By Maytaal Angel
LONDON (Reuters) – The European Commission remained steadfast on Thursday in the face of calls, this time from the bloc’s cocoa sector, to delay its signature law banning the import of goods linked to deforestation, which comes into effect at the end of the year.
In a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen this week, the European Cocoa Association (ECA) said implementing the law end-December could have serious consequences for cocoa supplies, adding its voice to a growing chorus of calls from industry and governments the world over.
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) has been hailed as a landmark in the fight against climate change, but critics say it is protectionist and could end up excluding millions of poor, smallholder farmers from the lucrative EU market.
A majority of EU member states have asked Brussels to scale back the legislation.
“Currently, we foresee a scenario where significant volumes of deforestation-free cocoa (without supporting documentation) will be blocked. This will have a direct impact on farmers in producing countries, and create a supply crunch within Europe,” said the ECA.
It added that its members are still not clear how to comply with the law.
Brussels has so far resisted repeated calls to delay or scale back the legislation, which it believes is necessary to end the EU’s contribution to deforestation, the second leading cause of climate change after the burning of fossil fuels.
A spokesman for the Commission said it would reply to the ECA letter to help them comply with the new law.
“As emphasised repeatedly …we have been continuously working very closely and in full transparency with all stakeholders to assist them in preparing to comply with their legal obligations,” the spokesman said.
The EUDR requires importers of coffee, cocoa, cattle, timber, soy, palm oil, rubber and a vast range of related products to prove their goods weren’t grown on land deforested after 2020.
Amongst the measures required, importers will have to digitally map their supply chains down to the plot where their raw materials were grown, tracing millions of small farms in remote, rural regions.
Critics say geolocation requirements are exceedingly complex in supply chains that span the globe and involve not just millions of farms but multiple middlemen whose data is not easily verifiable.
The EU is the world’s second largest contributor to deforestation through its imports, according to WWF data.
(Reporting by Maytaal Angel; Editing by Conor Humphries)
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