The European Union (EU) is set to ban commodities such as cocoa, oil palm, coffee, rubber, and wood that are farmed by clearing forests, aiming to protect forest resources in third countries. This move, known as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), comes as a response to concerns about deforestation-driven agriculture impacting global forests.
Mr. Valdis Dombrovskis, the Executive Vice-President of the European Commission for an Economy that Works for People and Commissioner for Trade, made this announcement during a two-day seminar in Brussels titled Sustainability Policies and International Trade. He clarified that products from farms established before 2020 would be exempted from this regulation.
The EUDR was first outlined in the 2019 Commission Communication on Stepping up EU Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests and has since been reinforced by initiatives like the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and the Farm to Fork Strategy.
During the seminar, which aimed to educate 20 journalists from EU trading partner countries, Mr. Dombrovskis emphasized the importance of protecting forests to mitigate climate change impacts. He acknowledged the EU’s role in deforestation and highlighted efforts to collaborate with organizations like COCOBOD in Ghana to analyze traceability modalities.
As part of the regulation implementation, the EU has allocated over 700 million Euros for initiatives, including establishing a Joint Research Center (JRC). The JRC, leveraging 30 years of geospatial expertise, has created a global map of forest destruction in 2020, aiding a new deforestation observatory.
To ensure traceability in supply chains, new requirements include collecting geolocation data and due diligence information. COCOBOD’s Ghana Cocoa Traceability Systems (GCTS) initiative, integrated into the Cocoa Management System (CMS), is a crucial step in meeting EU regulatory standards and maintaining Ghana’s position as a premium cocoa producer.
However, experts caution that compliance may pose challenges for smallholder producers, especially in indigenous communities in the Global South. Mr. Charles Brefo-Nimo, Senior Program Manager at IDH, emphasizes the need for collaborative efforts to build trust, transparency, and compliance within the cocoa supply chain.
Deforestation remains a significant challenge for countries like Ghana, a major cocoa producer. The loss of primary forests due to agricultural activities underscores the urgency for intervention to protect vital ecosystem services and support vulnerable communities dependent on forest resources.
