IT problems have led The European Commission to propose another delay to the EU’s new deforestation rules coming into force.
The regulations, known as EUDR, were set be implemented in December after already being pushed back.
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EUDR, first announced in 2021, was originally due to be enforced on 30 December this year but the Commission faced pressure from parts of the food industry to extend the deadline. Brussels agreed to a one-year delay last December.
In July, Cadbury owner Mondelez International called for a further delay to the rules, arguing the rules had to be “workable” in practice.
However, a letter co-signed by rival chocolate makers Nestlé and Ferrero urged the Commission to ensure “the full preservation and swift, ambitious implementation” of EUDR.
The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is to hold talks with the European Parliament and the European Council on a new postponement, a spokesperson told Just Food today (23 September).
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By GlobalDataThe spokesperson said the EU had put into place an IT system ahead of the deforestation rules going live to allow traders to register goods. The system had so far proved unable to handle the number of transactions, which had grown as the 30 December deadline approached, he added.
“The capacity is not sufficient. We concluded that it needs further work on the IT side and that’s why the Commissioner today announced that we will be speaking with the Parliament and the Council to explain the situation,” the spokesperson said. “This will be followed by our proposal, which will aim to delay by one year to fix this IT issue.”
Earlier today, EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall told reporters Brussels had a “concern regarding the IT system, given the amount of information that we put into the system”.
A delay, Roswall was quoted as saying by Reuters, “will … also give us time to look at the different risks”.
Under EUDR, companies marketing products including cocoa, coffee and palm oil, as well as foods that contain the ingredients, in the EU will have to demonstrate their supply chains are free from deforestation-related impacts.
Large companies would have had until 30 December 2025 to abide by the rules, while the regulation would have applied to smaller businesses from 30 June 2026.
WWF said another delay would lead to “massive stranded costs” for companies that had already “invested in compliance”.
Anke Schulmeister-Oldenhove, forest policy manager at WWF’s European policy office, added: “It is probably no coincidence that this move comes right as the Commission pursues an unprecedented deregulation agenda, throwing the EUDR under the bus. This is unacceptable and a massive embarrassment for President [Ursula] Von der Leyen and her Commission. If this technical issue is real, this shows not only incompetence, but also a clear lack of political will to invest sufficiently in a timely implementation of the EUDR.”
Just Food has asked Mondelez and Nestlé for comment.
The European Commission also today announced the conclusion of negotiations between the EU and Indonesia over a free-trade deal.
The EU exports primarily dairy and other animal products to Indonesia. Brussels said EU agri-food exports to Indonesia were worth €1bn ($1.18bn) in 2024. Indonesia’s main agricultural exports to the EU are palm oil, cocoa and coffee.
