EUDR: European Parliament Approves One-Year Delay But Proposes Contentious Amendment

On 14 November 2024, the European Parliament voted to approve the proposed one-year delay to the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (the EUDR). The delay, originally proposed by the European Council, would mean that large operators and traders would not have to comply with the EUDR until 30 December 2025, and small and micro enterprises would have until 30 June 2026.

However, the European Parliament also proposed some further amendments to the EUDR, the most significant of which is the introduction of a new country deforestation risk category of "no-risk". Under that proposal, any commodities produced in countries that were in the "no-risk" category would only have to be produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production and would not otherwise be subject to the rigorous due diligence obligations imposed by the EUDR on commodities produced in all other countries. Opponents of this amendment say that it risks undermining