Brazil Urges EU to Postpone and Reassess ‘Unilateral’ Anti-Deforestation Law Over Fears It Will Affect Trade Relations

Brazil sends more than 30% of its exports to the European Union. Its government calculated that the new anti-deforestation rules, set to come into effect at the end of 2024, could affect some $15 billion in exports.

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Brazil has urged the European Union to hold off on implementing the highly-contested anti-deforestation law at the end of the year, warning it would have severe repercussions on their trade relations.

In a letter to the European Commission seen by Reuters, the Brazilian government said the law was an “unilateral and punitive instrument” that discriminates against countries whose economies rely on forest resources such as Brazil.

“Brazil is one of the main suppliers to the EU of most of the products covered by the legislation, which correspond to more than 30% of our exports to the community bloc,” the letter, signed by the Minister of Agriculture Carlos Fávaro and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira, said. “In order to avoid impact on our trade relations, we request that the EU not implement the EUDR (EU Deforestation-free Regulation) at the end of 2024 and urgently reassess its approach to the issue.”

Government calculations suggest the legislation could affect some $15 billion-worth of exports. According to Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade figures, as reported by Reuters, Brazil’s exports of products covered by the EUDR in 2023 amounted to $46.2 billion.

In April, European Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said the law will come into force at the end of 2024 as initially planned in response to calls by an Austria-led coalition of 20 of the 27 EU member states to review the law. They argued that the new rules would hurt European farmers, who are also subject to the new rules.

In an exclusive interview with Earth.Org in April, European Greens leader Bas Eickhout called the U-turn on the policy of some European countries “ridiculous,” and a “failure of the Commission.” 

“This is what you get when you don’t have a long-term vision. The credibility of Europe is at stake. What we have been trying to do with this deforestation law is to make clear that these European industries should not only do green policies within Europe but they also have a global responsibility… they need to be credible in the rest of the world,” said Eickhout.

Strict Requirements

First proposed by the European Commission in 2021, the anti-deforestation law – the first of its kind in the world – was formally adopted last year. It cracks down on commodities linked to deforestation and forest degradation for agricultural expansion, targeting cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, and wood sold within the bloc. The six commodities accounted for over 50% of total deforestation between 2001-2015, with cattle accounting for the largest share. 

The main requirement of the EUDR is that commodities sold within the bloc are “deforestation-free.” This applies to both legal and illegal deforestation.

The law also stipulate that the production of covered commodities must meet local requirements of land use rights, environmental protection, forest-specific policy, labor laws, and the Principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent as laid out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Either the company that is placing a product in the EU market or the one exporting a product from the EU must provide a statement of due diligence, containing information and results of supply chain assessments carried out for a product.

These requirements will apply to all products containing, or produced with, covered commodities. All products set for placement in the EU market or being exported from the EU must comply with all EUDR requirements. 

More on the topic: Explainer: All You Need to Know About the EU Deforestation Regulation 

Controversies

The legislation’s impacts are regionally variable. For example, deforestation linked to cattle and soya occurring almost entirely in South America and particularly in Brazil. Meanwhile, palm oil-linked deforestation is heavily focused in Southeast Asia’s Indonesia and Malaysia, which produce over 80% of the world’s palm oil. 

Nations including Colombia and Indonesia have previously criticised the rules, saying they are costly and burdensome. This is especially true for agricultural smallholders, which own 25% of agricultural land and produce roughly 30% of crops globally.

While the companies in charge of importing and exporting products through the EU market are ultimately responsible for ensuring sustainable production, the documentation process is often spread to primary and secondary producers by larger corporations. In order to meet the documentation standards and legal production requirements of the EUDR, smallholders will need significant support and more capacity. 

Besides this, countries have warned that products are often hard to trace given that supply chains often span multiple countries, further complicating efforts to comply with the new rules.