EU to outlaw import of cargo related to deforestation

On Tuesday, 6th December, the European Parliament and EU states passed a law prohibiting the importation of certain commodities linked with global deforestation.

Companies will be obliged to provide documentation proving that their supply chains are not contributing to deforestation before goods will be allowed to travel into the European Union. Failing to do so could incur severe fines and will cause the import of such goods to be blocked at customs. These due diligence checks will require proof of where and when the commodities were produced in addition to verifiable evidence that they were not grown on land which has been cut down since the year 2020. This evidence will come in the form of a certificate based on satellite images and GPS coordinates.

Included commodities are:

• Soy
• Palm Oil (and derivatives)
• Coffee
• Beef
• Wood
• Cocoa
• Some derived products (leather, chocolate, furniture)
• Rubber
• Charcoal

The law will be implemented from the end of December 2022, with smaller companies obliged to comply ahead of January 2024 and medium and larger companies by June 2023.

The new regulation comes as the European Parliament looks to build momentum and put pressure on other countries around the globe to protect the world's forests and reduce greenhouse emissions. Although the agreement between the EU and European Parliament was confirmed earlier this week, the European Parliament will look to use this week's UN COP15 conference to bid for a more far-reaching global deal.

For more information, or to speak with an EU customs expert, please contact us here