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The European Parliament and the Member States of the EU reached an unprecedented agreement on the night of Monday to Tuesday December 6 to ban the import into the European Union of several products, such as cocoa, coffee or soy, when contribute to deforestation.
Drink your coffee with the assurance of not contributing to the disappearance of forests on the other side of the world: the EU on Tuesday sealed an unprecedented agreement to date to ban the import of products if they contribute to the deforestation.
Cocoa, coffee, soy, but also palm oil, wood, beef and rubber are concerned, as well as several associated materials (leather, furniture, printed paper, charcoal, etc.), according to this agreement concluded after long negotiations between the European Parliament and the Member States of the EU.
❗???? Historic agreement against deforestation!
Member States & the European Parliament reached an agreement last night on our proposals against imported deforestation ????
Objective: ban the import into Europe ???????? of several products from deforestation ↓ pic.twitter.com/g9EspzhKVg
— European Commission ???????? (@UEFrance) December 6, 2022
« This is a first in the world! It’s the coffee for breakfast, the chocolate we eat, the charcoal in our barbecues, the paper in our books. It’s radical “, welcomed Pascal Canfin (Renew, liberals), chairman of the Environment Committee at the European Parliament.
World’s second largest destroyer of rainforests
At the origin of 16% of global deforestation through its imports (mainly soy and palm oil, 2017 figure), the EU is the second destroyer of tropical forests behind China, according to the NGO WWF (World wild Fund).
Importation into the EU will be prohibited if these products come from deforested land after December 2020. Importing companies, responsible for their supply chain, will have to ensure full traceability of the origin of their products. The EU will draw up maps of areas and countries more or less at risk with control obligations. For example, 9% mandatory controls of all goods from the countries most at risk. These checks may be based on satellite maps, or even DNA analyses.
The rule will apply both to the transformation of primary forests into fields or pastures, but also to the conversion into forestry of primary forests or forests which regenerate naturally.
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The text was proposed in November 2021 by the European Commission and broadly taken up by the States.
But MEPs voted in September to strengthen it significantly, by expanding the range of products concerned, in particular rubbermissing from the initial proposal.
The European Parliament had also called for the scope of the text to be extended to other threatened wooded ecosystems, such as the Cerrado savannah (Brazil/Paraguay/Bolivia), from which a large part of European soybean imports come.
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The agreement reached between MEPs and States finally stipulates that this extension ” to other woodlands should be considered no later than one year after the entry into force of the text.
Possible extension to other products
Similarly, after two years, the Commission is required to study a possible extension to other products (such as corn, which MEPs wanted to target immediately), to other ecosystems rich in carbon storage and biodiversity ( peatlands…), but also to the financial sector, another strong demand from Parliament.
The EU could thus consider obliging financial institutions to refuse financial services or credits if these risk being associated with deforestation activities.
In contrast, “ we got a much more robust definition of forest degradation to cover all forests, not just primary forests “, observed Christophe Hansen (EPP, right), negotiator for Parliament.
Also, contrary to the initial proposal, the text includes “ guarantees to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, our best allies against deforestation “, he argued.
Importers will have to verify compliance with the human rights legislation of the country of production, and ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples have been respected”.
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(With AFP)