38 | Sector Focus: Tropical Timber


SUMMARY


■The EUDR aims to clamp down on a wider range of “forest risk commodities”


■The EC has done little to ensure companies and countries were putting compliance measures in place


■Unlike other sectors, the timber industry has been conducting due diligence for many years


EUDR RISKS MISSING OPPORTUNITY


The EUDR delay is pragmatic but now serious in-country investment is needed to achieve its aims, says David Hopkins, Timber Development UK chief executive officer


The recent decision from the European Commission (EC) to delay the implementation of the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is, on balance, a sensible one. The EUDR brings a number of welcome changes to try and tackle deforestation, namely, to clamp down on a wider range of “forest risk commodities”, particularly from agriculture. This has been broadly welcomed: agricultural expansion has long been known to be the major cause of deforestation, particularly in the tropics, but agri-companies were never previously subject to due diligence regulation like the timber industry. In addition, the regulation assesses an entire country’s risk of deforestation – ie the forest losses and gains across whole nations – rather than just looking at individual concessions or forests from which the product was harvested.


Above: The EUDR assesses an entire country’s risk of deforestation TTJ | November/December 2024 | www.ttjonline.com


The trouble is, since announcing the broad scope of the EUDR and its implementation date, the Commission has done precious little to ensure companies and countries were putting measures in place to ensure compliance. Nor, for its own part, did it publish in good time the detailed guidance needed for companies to invest in the compliance systems needed, nor to ensure the IT system at the heart of the process was working, nor to cover off all details with businesses involved. Nor indeed did they conduct the relevant risk assessment for each country that would enable them to differentiate the risks each nation holds!


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