COCERAL urges EU anti-deforestation law delay

The EUDR – due to be implemented on 30 December – requires companies that sell cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soyabean, wood and rubber products into the EU to prove that they are deforestation free.

COCERAL – which represents the cereals, rice, feedstuffs, oilseeds, olive oil, oils and fats sectors – has urged the European Commission (EC) to reconsider the timeline for all market to ensure a smooth transition for EU industries and consumers.

On 21 October, the EC proposed delaying implementation of the EUDR for micro and small operators until 30 December 2026, while keeping this year’s 30 December deadline for large and medium companies, but with a six-month grace period.

COCERAL said the fragmented implementation timelines had increased uncertainty and risk in the market, with the confusion making it difficult for large and medium operators to meet this December’s compliance deadline.

The potential unavailability of compliant materials could lead to serious supply chain disruptions, it added in its 27 October statement.

“Building new infrastructure to support segregated supply chains – such as silos, crushing plants and port facilities – is prohibitively expensive and impractical at major ports,” the association said.

“This has led to reduced throughput, higher costs and limited availability of goods, which could drive up food prices and inflation across the EU.”

The impact on the EU’s feed and meat industries could be severe, potentially forcing reliance on imports of end products from non-EU countries, risking the viability of the region’s livestock sector.

COCERAL said a further postponement was the only viable solution at this stage to avoid supply shortages in 2026 and protect the competitiveness of EU industries and consumers.

On 23 September, EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall proposed a one-year delay of the EUDR, citing concerns about the IT system supporting the law. The EC then proposed a one-year delay for small and micro operators, which would need to be adopted by the European Parliament and Council.

The EC also proposed that downstream operators and traders would no longer need to submit regular due diligence statements (DDSs), the documents certifying that no forests were cleared to produce the seven commodities entering the EU market

Instead, “only one submission in the EUDR IT system at the entry point in the market will be required for the entire supply chain,” the EC said on 21 October. “The reporting obligations would be focused on the operators first placing the products on the market. For example, cocoa beans would need only one DDS to be submitted by the importer placing them on the EU market, but downstream manufacturers of chocolate products will not be required to submit a DDS.”

Small operators only needed to submit a one-off declaration in the EUDR IT system. When the information was already available, for instance in a member state database, the operators did not have to take any action in the IT System themselves, the EC said.

Tags: rubber, EU Deforestation Regulation, EU, Coceral, palm oil, cattle, Market, coffee, cocoa, soyabeans, wood