BREAKING: the @Europarl_EN just voted to adopt the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (#EUDR)

This is a huge success for forests and people and comes after years of campaigning 💪🌳🌲🌱

However, the fight is far from over!
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We must ensure the law will be properly implemented & enforced, & that it will be strengthened after it’s reviewed 1, 2 & 5 years from now

Here’s a rundown of some key elements that made it into the law & some that didn’t

🟠 Product scope:

✅ The law covers key commodities: Cattle (incl. beef & leather), cocoa, coffee, oil palm, soya, wood & rubber. Of these commodities, we successfully campaigned for the inclusion of charcoal, wooden seats & leather

❌All poultry & some beef products excluded

🟠Name & shame list:

The names of companies penalised will be published once a final judgement is issued by a court

This is an important but imperfect measure, as companies won’t be included when they are first found to be non-compliant by a national competent authority

🔴 International Human Rights Protections:

The law requires companies to ensure human rights enshrined in national law are adhered to, meaning companies operating in countries where such laws don’t exist won’t need to take further steps to uphold international human rights

🟢Enforcement & penalties:

A minimum of 9% of importers and imported commodities from high-risk countries must be checked by enforcement authorities, & max penalties will cover at least 4% of the companies’ turnover in the EU

This is a significant improvement on the #EUTR

🟢 Due diligence obligations for large traders:

Large traders will not be let off lightly. Under the EUDR they will be required to fulfil the same due diligence obligations as importers

🔴Other ecosystems:

Other wooded lands & precious biomes such as parts of the Cerrado and Gran Chaco are not covered under the law’s definition of ‘deforestation-free’ and therefore remain at risk

➡️Next steps:

The EUDR needs to be adopted by the Council before finally coming into force

EU Member States must then ensure that it is implemented & enforced

Over the coming years, the EU will need to use review processes to address the gaps & flaws

Keep an eye on our work in the coming months & years for independent research & analysis into how well the EUDR is working & being enforced

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#Together4Forests