Third countries, member states, operators and traders will have more time to prepare for the “due diligence obligations” imposed by the European Deforestation Regulation.
The approval followed a vote in a European Parliament plenary session today (14 November).
A package of nine amendments to the EUDR bill were voted on, plus the vote to delay, with all but one – amendment 12 – being adopted.
The vote on the European Commission’s proposal to delay implementation received 371 in favour versus 240 against, however, 30 MEPs abstained from the vote.
How long is EUDR delayed for?
A proposed two-year extension from the European People’s Party – instead of the one-year as proposed by the European Commission – was removed from the vote, along with six of the 15 amendments it had tabled.
Voting itself was delayed due to a technical issue at amendment six, though the European Parliament president refused to allow for a second vote and moved to take votes on the next amendment, causing uproar from the MEPs.
The result was a relief to many in the sector, including Copa-Cogeca, which welcomed it in a post on social platform X and said: “We acknowledge the outcome of the European Parliament vote on the EUDR deforestation.
“We will closely follow further developments concerning the file to ensure the necessary simplification and reduction of unnecessary bureaucratic burden.”
Read more:
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Following the vote, large businesses and operators have until 30 December 2025 to comply fully with EUDR. Small and micro enterprises have until 30 June 2026.
Although a delay on the requirements to provide legal documentation to trade various commodities in and out of the EU has been agreed, EUDR has been in force since 29 June 2023.
Charities have since lashed out at the decision to delay, calling it a “disaster” and criticised the European authorities for their role in “environmental genocide”.
In addition to the delay, a new ‘loophole’ was also introduced for products from ‘no-risk’ countries.
New ‘no risk’ EUDR category
The new ‘no risk’ category is for countries where deforestation risk is considered small or non-existent, such as those with stable or growing forests.
Environmental organisation, Earthsight slammed the ‘no-risk’ amendment, calling the determining criteria “arbitrary”.
“The amendments create a dangerous loophole that could open the floodgates for products produced in high-risk countries to be laundered through no-risk countries.”
The European Parliament, through its vote to delay, had “wielded an axe to Europe’s efforts to end deforestation in its supply chains”, said campaigner at forests and rights NGO, Fern, Julia Christian.
“Particularly egregious is the amendment changing countries' deforestation risk ratings, which would give EU forested countries a free pass,” added Christian.