June 21, 2023 | less than a minute read

Tomorrow’s supply chain - The EU's deforestation regulation enters into force on 29 June 2023

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Yves Melin

Partner

Get in touch

Yves Melin

Partner

On 17 November 2021, the European Commission (Commission) proposed a Regulation to curb EU-driven deforestation and forest degradation. The Council and the European Parliament reached a joint provisional agreement in December 2022. Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 on making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation (the Regulation) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 9 June 2023 and will enter into force 20 days after its publication, on 29 June 2023.

Our supplychain team explains some key elements of the Regulation, its practical implications for operators and traders, and provides a comparative analysis with the upcoming UK deforestation due diligence regime.

In essence, to fight climate change and biodiversity loss, the Regulation obliges companies to ensure that cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soya and wood products sold in the EU and exported from the EU have not led to deforestation and forest degradation. To do so, the Regulation sets mandatory rules on due diligence and data collection, as well as reporting obligations on all operators and traders who make available on the EU market, or export from the EU market, the covered commodities and their derived products.