BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will delay its anti-deforestation law that will ban imports of commodities including soy, beef, cocoa and palm oil linked to forest destruction, the European
EU Postpones Anti-Deforestation Law Implementation by Another Year
EU's Anti-Deforestation Law Delay
By Kate Abnett and Makini Brice
Reasons for the Delay
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Union will delay launching its anti-deforestation law for a second time, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall said on Tuesday, postponing the ban on imports of commodities such as palm oil linked to forest destruction for another year.
Impact on Trade Partners
Brussels had already delayed the law by a year, but that had not quelled opposition from industry and trade partners such as Brazil, Indonesia and the United States, who say complying with the rules would be costly and hurt their exports to Europe.
Reactions from Environmental Groups
Roswall told reporters the postponement was necessary to address concerns about the readiness of information-technology systems needed to support the law. The delay was not linked to U.S. concerns about the policy, she said.
"We have concern regarding the IT system, given the amount of information that we put into the system...That will...also give us time to look at the different risks," she said.
COMMODITIES LINKED TO FOREST DESTRUCTION
The EU deforestation law was due to take effect on December 30, and would have required operators selling goods including soy, beef and palm oil into EU markets to provide proof their products did not cause deforestation.
The world-first policy aims to end the 10% of global deforestation fuelled by EU consumption of imported goods, but is a politically contested part of Europe's green agenda.
As part of its trade deal with President Donald Trump, the EU committed to work to address U.S. producers' concerns over the regulation. The U.S. paper and pulp industry has previously demanded American products be exempted from the rules.
EU countries, including Poland and Austria, have said European producers cannot comply with its traceability rules.
In a letter to the chair of the European Parliament's environment committee, seen by Reuters, Roswall said the Commission feared the IT system risked "slowing down to unacceptable levels" which could disrupt trade.
Environmental campaigners criticised the EU decision.
"Every day this law is delayed equates to more forests razed, more wildfires and more extreme weather," said Nicole Polsterer, a campaigner at environmental group Fern.
The European Parliament and EU member states must approve the delay.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Writing by Makini Brice, Editing by William Maclean and Ros Russell)
