Brazil asks EU to suspend 'punitive' law against deforestation. 13/09/2024

Products grown on recently deforested land will soon be banned from the European Union (EVARISTO SA) (EVARISTO SA/AFP/AFP)

By AFP -Agence France Presse

Brazil asks EU to suspend 'punitive' law against deforestation.

Brazil said on Thursday that it had asked the European Union to suspend the implementation of a ban on imports of products that cause deforestation, describing the new rules as “punitive”.

The EU law, set to come into force at the end of December, will ban a wide range of products - from coffee to cocoa, soy, timber, palm oil, cattle, printing paper, and rubber - if produced using land deforested after December 2020.

The Brazilian government said the legislation was “a matter of great concern” as the South American country is one of the EU's main suppliers of most of the products targeted by the legislation.

“To avoid any negative impact on our trade relations, we request that the EU refrain from implementing (the law) at the end of 2024 and urgently reassess its approach on the matter,” Brasilia said in a letter to the European Commission shared with AFP on Thursday.

The foreign and agriculture ministers signed the letter.

It adds to the concerns expressed by the United States, as well as Latin American, Asian, and African countries about the administrative burden the new law imposes on farmers and the forestry sector.

Within the EU itself, agriculture ministers from around 20 member states - led by Austria and Finland - warned in April that the law would create new bureaucratic obstacles for the agricultural sector, with the risk of damaging investment and distorting competition.

The largest group in the European Parliament called for the law to be postponed.

Brazil said it considered the legislation “a unilateral and punitive instrument that disregards national laws to combat deforestation”, adding that it increased production and export costs, especially for smallholders.

The commission confirmed that it had received the letter.

“We will respond in due course,” said a spokesperson.

Previously, the Commission had said it was “working intensively on the implementation of this new regulation”, with no postponement planned so far.

The EU is the second largest market for the consumption of the targeted products, after China.

Companies that import the goods in question into the EU from 27 countries will be responsible for tracing their supply chains to prove that the products did not originate from deforested areas, based on geolocation and satellite data.

Exporting countries considered high risk would have at least nine percent of products sent to the EU subject to checks.

In March, the EU's environment commissioner visited Paraguay, Bolivia, and Ecuador to address criticism of the new law.

The bloc has also offered technical and financial aid to importers to bring their traceability systems up to the required level.

EU imports are responsible for 16% of global deforestation, according to WWF data.

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