The European Commission’s proposed regulation on Wednesday 17 November to minimise the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the EU market will be “a world first”, said the Chair of Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Health and Food Safety (ENVI), Pascal Canfin (Renew Europe, France), on Monday 15 November.
Speaking to the press by videoconference, he stressed the merits of the future legislation, although he and Delara Burkhardt (S&D, Germany), the rapporteur on the dossier, had identified potential loopholes that could undermine the text—loopholes that Parliament will seek to remedy in the forthcoming negotiations (see EUROPE 12817/29, 12587/6).
This legal instrument to combat deforestation imported into the EU will aim to establish due diligence along the supply chain - a major issue, as the EU—the second largest contributor to global deforestation after China—is responsible for 17% of tropical deforestation linked to internationally traded commodities such as meat, palm oil, soy, coffee, and cocoa.
Parliament will probably add rubber, Mr Canfin said.
The Commission’s proposal will be presented in the aftermath of COP26 in Glasgow, which saw the launch of the Global Forest Commitment Initiative, for which the Commission has pledged €1 billion.
“This regulation will show that Europe is moving forward with a credible plan. It is the result of strong pressure from the European Parliament”, said Mr Canfin, recalling that this proposal is the result of a legislative own-initiative report by Parliament.
He said he was confident that the proposal would be “close” to the wishes expressed by the European Parliament when Ms Burkhardt’s report (see EUROPE 12587/6) was voted on in October 2020.
“To be able to place the product on the market, operators will have to provide customs with documents—a kind of marketing authorisation—guaranteeing that there is no deforestation in the value chain of this product”, Mr Canfin stressed.
Those who buy the products will have to ask their own suppliers to provide these documents required for traceability.
The checks will be carried out using satellite images from the Copernicus programme. The date to be taken as a reference to identify whether there was a rainforest from which the product would be derived would probably be 2020, Mr Canfin said. This will be subject to negotiation, as Copernicus has had images since 2015—a date favoured by Parliament.
He explained that “traceability by hectare and satellite photos are those already used by companies that made a commitment at COP26”.
The Commission’s expected proposal will impose obligations on raw material traders for their products sold in Europe—and this, he said, is a major step towards creating “a transparent pathway for any marketing”.
Mr Canfin acknowledged that Parliament wanted to see the destruction of other vital ecosystems—such as savannahs, grasslands, peatlands and mangrove biomes—taken into account beyond forests, which the Commission says is more difficult to monitor by satellite.
Asked about the protection of human rights in countries where rainforests are being destroyed for cultivation—an area where Ms Burkhardt also fears the Commission’s lack of ambition—the committee chair linked this to other future EU legislation.
“It will be seen to what extent the proposal refers to the due diligence legislation planned for December. When we are in negotiations, we will have this text. This will help us to ensure consistency between the two legislations”, he said. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)