Chocolate, coffee, wood or rubber: Importers wishing to sell these products in the EU must ensure that they are not from deforestation, according to a text adopted by the European Parliament on Wednesday 19 April.
Will we have to do without coffee and chocolate?
This regulation, which was voted by a large majority, aims to slow the disappearance of forests on the other side of the world and, in doing so, combat climate change and preserve biodiversity.
sequel after announcement
It was approved the day after the European Parliament adopted the EU’s ambitious climate plan, including an overhaul of its carbon market and carbon tax at the frontier to make its imports green.
EU, the second destroyer of tropical forests
With this new text, it will be forbidden to import cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybeans, wood, rubber, coal or beef into the EU if these products come from deforested lands after December 2020. Businesses will also have to make sure It has been produced with respect for human rights and the rights of indigenous peoples.
At the origin of 16% of global deforestation through its imports (mainly soybean and palm oil, 2017 figures), the European Union is the second destroyer of tropical forests after China, according to the WWF.
In the Amazon, all you have to do is replant trees…really?
here “The world’s first law to end imported deforestation” The MEP was welcomed by Pascal Canvin (Renewal, Liberals). “All opinion studies show that Europeans do not want to contribute to deforestation but have no possibility of knowing whether they have a cup of coffee in the morning or a cup of chocolate they are in fact complicit in imported deforestation”he said during the debates Monday night.
sequel after announcement
Greenpeace defined the scope of the text through its vision ‘Just a first step’. For NGOs, provide this regulation “flaws”for example by excluding ecosystems such as savannas and failing to target European banks that finance deforestation projects.
“administrative burden”
For MEP Marie Toussaint (Greens), that’s right “It is necessary to expand this text to have an impact on fragile ecosystems such as mangroves, to include other products such as maize or to incorporate the financial entities that fund the many projects that lead to deforestation.”.
Three revisions of the text are planned. They will eventually allow other regions and other products to be included. The EU regulation on non-deforestation products is very promising, but its effectiveness will depend on its strict implementation by each EU member state and on the concrete support the EU will provide trading partners for compliance.said Luciana Tellez Chavez, an environmental researcher with the NGO Joman Rights Watch.
Amazon, a burning paradise
The text rapporteur, Christoph Hansen (EPP, right), acknowledged that the script had a certain something in it “administrative burden” It is necessary for small producers to benefit from a Technical and financial assistance.
sequel after announcement
The Commission will classify countries as low or high risk within 18 months of the legislation entering into force. Products from low-risk countries will be subject to a simplified procedure, while controls will be strengthened in high-risk countries.
Companies will need to provide information such as geographic location coordinates to determine the exact production location. Tests will also be carried out through satellite monitoring tools and DNA analysis.
