New EU rule aims to protect forests, human rights and indigenous peoples.
The European Council has adopted a new regulation which minimises the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products that are placed on or exported from the EU market, and takes into account the protection of human rights related to deforestation and a reference was added to the principle of free prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples.
Broken down:
- The regulation requires mandatory due diligence from operators and traders of palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber, soy, and related products.
- Operators must trace their commodities back to the land where they were produced and ensure that they are deforestation-free.
- The regulation assigns risk levels to countries related to deforestation, which determines their specific obligations for inspections and controls.
- The regulation includes provisions on penalties that must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive, including fines of at least 4% of operators’ annual turnover in the EU.
- The new rules also take into account the protection of human rights related to deforestation and the principle of free prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples.
- The regulation was proposed in November 2021 and adopted by the EU Parliament in April 2023, and will enter into force 20 days after it’s published in the EU Official Journal.
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