EU members call for revision of anti-deforestation law

26/3/2024 6:18

        A group of EU countries led by Austria is calling for urgent revisions to the bloc's anti-deforestation law set to go into effect at the end of the year, saying it could hurt European farmers, according to a document reviewed by Reuters on Monday.
        
        The EU law aims to root deforestation out of supply chains for beef, soy and other agricultural products sold in Europe, so that European consumers are not contributing to the destruction of global forests from the Amazon to Southeast Asia.
        
        Those rules equally apply to European farmers, who will be banned from exporting products cultivated on deforested or degraded woodlands.
        
        "The agreed overall objective of tackling deforestation in third countries must not be to the detriment of the European economy, in particular the European agriculture and forestry sector," said the document, which was also signed by Finland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden.