“The aim is to ensure simplification of the deforestation regulation so it can be implemented effectively and without unnecessary burdens, while keeping its environmental ambition,” said the Danish presidency of the Council in a written statement.
The EU’s anti-deforestation law requires that companies police their supply chains to ensure that any commodities they use, such as palm oil, beef or coffee, have not contributed to deforestation.
In a bid to appease unhappy trade partners and businesses, the Commission in October proposed to make the law effective Dec. 30 with some simplifying amendments and a six-month grace period for companies that struggle to comply.
But now, under the deal struck Thursday night, businesses will have at least one more year to comply with the rules. It will apply for large operators and traders as of Dec. 30, 2026, and for small operators as of June 30, 2027.
The agreement introduces simpler due diligence requirements. By next April the Commission must review the law’s impact and its administrative burden.
The co-legislators also agreed to exclude printed products from the scope of the regulation, as requested by the Parliament. Books are “sources of content and information and should not be treated as commodities,” said Federation of European Publishers President Sonia Draga last week.
“The omnibus reaps yet another victim: forests and their protections against the endless consumption of pulp and paper,” said Mateus Carvalho, a consumption reduction campaigner at the Environmental Paper Network.
The Parliament is scheduled to vote on the deal Dec. 16.