By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Parliament approved a landmark deforestation law on Wednesday to ban imports into the EU of coffee, beef, soy and other commodities if they are linked to the destruction of the world’s forests.
The law will require companies that sell goods into the European Union to produce a due diligence statement and “verifiable” information proving their goods were not grown on land deforested after 2020, or risk hefty fines.
The rules aim to eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of a range of everyday items sold in Europe. It will apply to soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, charcoal, and derived products including leather, chocolate and furniture.
Deforestation is responsible for about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change, and the landmark law aims to tackle the EU’s contribution to this.
The law does not target any one country, but has faced pushback from countries that would be among the most affected.
Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s largest palm oil exporters, have accused the EU of blocking market access for their palm oil. The EU is the world’s third-largest palm oil importer.
Malaysia has said it could stop exporting palm oil to the EU in response to the law, while palm oil smallholders warn that they cannot comply with its requirements to prove when and where goods were produced, using precise geolocation data.
The EU Parliament approved the law, which were agreed by EU negotiators last year, with a large majority.
The law needs formal approval from EU countries – a process that typically waves through pre-agreed deals on laws – before it can enter into force. Once that happens, large companies would have 18 months to comply, and smaller firms 24 months.
Companies that fail to comply could fare fines of up to 4% of a company’s turnover in an EU member state. EU countries will carry out compliance checks to enforce the rules.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Louise Heavens)
