The European Parliament has approved a proposal to prevent products responsible for the destruction of forests from being marketed in the EU. Between 1990 and 2020 an era larger than the EU was lost due to deforestation and the consumption of European citizens is the cause of 10% of this loss. FAO estimates that almost 90% of deforestation is caused by agribusiness.
The proposed regulation was approved by the plenary with 453 votes in favour, 57 against and 123 abstentions. According to the text approved by the MEPs, the new regulation would make it compulsory for companies to verify the fact " that the goods sold in the EU have not been produced on deforested or degraded land anywhere in the world ".
The deputies also ask that the companies "verify that the goods are produced in compliance with the provisions on human rights in international law and respect the rights of indigenous peoples".
The regulation provides that in order to meet the new and stringent criteria and have the green light on the EU market, third countries must adopt annual control plans to be submitted to the Commission.
Compared to the Commission's initial proposal which concerned livestock, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy and wood, MEPs have expanded the list of products subject to the ban by adding pork, sheep, goat, poultry, corn, rubber and coal-based products and printed paper.
They also anticipated the ban: the Commission had in fact proposed that the ban cover products obtained thanks to deforestation that occurred after 31 December 2020, but the proposed regulation set the deadline for those after 31 December 2019 , thus expanding the number of imports prohibited by the regulation.
“ This is an important change -said the President of the Environment Commission, Pascal Canfin- only a few years ago such a text would have been unimaginable in Europe. Times are changing ”. Now the Council of the European Union, where the representatives of the 27 member countries sit, the EU Parliament and the Commission, will have to find an agreement in the so-called "trilogue" to give the green light to the regulation. (Source: https://www.fondazionesvilupposostenibile.org/ )
EU, stop products responsible for deforestation