EU law preventing imports from deforested areas is 'groundbreaking', says MEP

Record ID: 1701145

  • Title: EU law preventing imports from deforested areas is 'groundbreaking', says MEP
  • Date: 6th December 2022
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (DECEMBER 6, 2022) (REUTERS) EUROPEAN LAWMAKER (MEP) CHRISTOPHE HANSEN WALKING HANSEN TALKING HANSEN TALKING BEHIND PLANT (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEP, CHRISTOPHE HANSEN, SAYING: “Well first of all, I think it is a ground-breaking legislation that we put in action this night. It is a very important tool to fight global deforestation because the EU stands for around 10 percent of global deforestation, not because we deforest here at home but because through our consumption, because we are importing goods that are for example palm oil, cocoa, soy et cetera, cattle, and those products stand for a lot of the deforestation going on so it was very important that we set up now this system especially ahead as well of the conference of parties (COP) on biodiversity which is going to happen in Montreal. This is our strong contribution from the European Union and we hope that other economies and countries in the world will follow our path.” PEOPLE WALKING THROUGH HALLWAY / HANSEN TALKING HANSEN TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEP, CHRISTOPHE HANSEN, SAYING: “Well we will simply not accept anymore that those products that are after a certain cut-off date, this is set to 2020, that for example if the Amazon would be cut down to produce soy to enter the European Union, we would not accept that anymore because we have now clear geolocation measures there to determine exactly where the product comes from and we will just not accept it anymore on our market and that is what is really the true innovation.” HANSEN ADJUSTING SUIT HANSEN TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEP, CHRISTOPHE HANSEN, SAYING: "The proof of the pudding is always in the eating or as you can say you recognise the tree by its fruit in this case. I think we need to see now how our system works in practice. And I think we have struck a good balance between the ambition and the applicability. We also have to see that the system is WTO-compliant because otherwise we get sued over this regulation and in the end it would not be effective." LOGO OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT / HANSEN TALKING HANSEN TALKING MAN WALKING OUTSIDE OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT EXTERIOR OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT WITH FLAGS WAVING FLAG OF EUROPEAN UNION SEEN BEHIND ROSES
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2022 16:23
  • Keywords: Amazon Christophe Hansen EU European Parliament deforestation imports trade
  • Location: Brussels, BELGIUM
  • City: Brussels, BELGIUM
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: European Union,Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA001484906122022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: 4712-CLIMATE-CHANGE/DEFORESTATION-EU-FILE CONTAINS IMAGES OF DEFORESTATION AND PRODUCTS IN SUPERMARKETS
    The European Parliament's lead negotiator of a law to prevent companies from selling into the EU market certain commodities linked to deforestation hailed it as "groundbreaking" on Tuesday (December 6).
    The law will require companies to produce a due diligence statement showing that their supply chains are not contributing to the destruction of forests before they sell goods into the EU - or they could face hefty fines.
    Deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change and will be in focus at a U.N. COP15 conference this week, where countries will seek a global deal to protect nature.
    "I think it is a ground-breaking legislation that we put in action this night. It is a very important tool to fight global deforestation," lawmaker Christophe Hansen said.
    Negotiators from EU countries and the European Parliament struck the deal on the law early on Tuesday.
    It will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee, and some derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture. Rubber, charcoal and some palm oil derivatives were included at the request of EU lawmakers.
    Companies would need to show when and where the commodities were produced and "verifiable" information that they were not grown on land deforested after 2020.
    "We have now a clear geolocation measures there to determine exactly where the product comes from and we will just not accept it anymore on our market and that is really the true innovation," Hansen said.
    Countries that will be impacted by the new rules, including Brazil, Indonesia and Colombia, say they are burdensome and costly. Supply certification is also difficult to monitor, especially as some chains can span multiple nations.
    EU countries and the European parliament must now formally approve the legislation. The law can enter into force 20 days later, after which large companies have 18 months to comply, and smaller firms 24 months.
    (Production: Christian Levaux, Jakob Van Calster)
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