EU will delay anti-deforestation law by another year

23/9/2025 18:54

The European Union will delay launching its anti-deforestation law for a second time, Environment Commissioner Jessica Roswall said on Tuesday, postponing a ban on imports of commodities such as palm oil linked to forest destruction for another year.



Brussels had already delayed the law by a year after complaints from industries and trade partners including Brazil, Indonesia and then-U.S. President Joe Biden's administration.



Roswall told reporters that postponing the implementation of the law was necessary to address concerns about the large volumes of information needed to enter into the information-technology system to enforce the law and was not linked to U.S. concerns about the policy.



Pushing ahead with the launch of the policy, which bans imports of commodities such as soy, beef and cocoa linked to forest destruction, without addressing the IT system risked causing disruption to EU businesses and supply chains, she said.



"We have concern regarding the IT system, given the amount of information that we put into the system. And that is why we will seek, with the co-legislators, to seek for a postponement of one year. And that will, of course, also give us time to look at the different risks," she said.