On Friday 6 December, the European Commission officially launched the Deforestation Regulation’s information system, whose delay in going online was one of the main reasons for the legislation’s one-year postponement (see EUROPE 13538/1).
The information system must enable operators, traders and their representatives to submit their due diligence statements to the competent authorities. They will have to prove that their products are not associated with deforestation or forest degradation.
The text provides for a ban from the end of 2025 on importing products into the EU (palm oil, beef, soya, coffee, etc.) whose production has contributed to forest degradation after 2020.
Several organisations have called for the EU’s support in the process of complying with the regulation. To help users familiarise themselves with the system, the European Commission has launched a training server called ACCEPTANCE Server. Operators, traders and their representatives will be able to use it for practice and test, for example, the compatibility of their geolocation files.
The Commission notes that training sessions for private stakeholders began in September and are still ongoing. According to the Commission, 2,500 operators and traders and 84 representatives of Member State authorities have been trained. (Original version in French by Florent Servia)