The proposal to postpone implementation of the Deforestation Regulation (see EUROPE 13495/1) was approved during a discussion between EU ambassadors on Wednesday 9 October, according to our sources, with the Member States opposed to the postponement now keen to avoid any watering down of the legislation.
According to our sources, Sweden maintains that efforts to simplify and reduce the administrative burden must continue. Contacted by Agence Europe, the Austrian Minister for Agriculture, Norbert Totschnig, said on Wednesday 9 October that “the rapid adoption of the deadline is important for the legal certainty” of the regulation. But he is waiting for the European Commission to present the missing elements (comparative assessment of countries and computerised information system).
Norbert Totschnig added, “Other concerns about the regulation were raised at the Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 26 March“, in a note from the Austrian delegation. Supported by the Finnish, Italian, Polish, Slovakian, Slovenian and Swedish delegations, the Austrian note called for the traceability provided by the cattle identification and registration instrument to be recognised by the EUDR and requested a general exemption for producers of relevant raw materials in low-risk countries.
Read the Austrian note: https://aeur.eu/f/dud (Original version in French by Florent Servia)