EU anti-deforestation rules were due to enter into force at the end of 2025 for vast companies and at the end of June 2026 for smaller companies. The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) would impose penalties on any company importing goods into the EU, such as coffee, that cannot be verified as unrelated to deforestation. The bill has already faced widespread criticism from both producers and buyers who argued that while well-intentioned, it would have a significant impact on petite farmers, many of whom do not have the resources or infrastructure to meet the recent standards.
The law, which was originally passed in 2022, has already been pushed back a year to give farmers more time to implement the recent systems. And now it may be postponed for another year.
As reported Essentialslow last month, the European Parliament voted on another delay on EUDR. It passed by a 402-250 majority, moving the start dates to December 30, 2026 and June 30, 2027. With the postponement, the vote changed the original law, including removing printed books and newspapers from scope, which many believe is a direct benefit to the forestry industry.
Joint statement including coffee companies such as Nestle, Vocal Coffee Alliance, Danone and Rainforest Alliance, said another delay “will create market uncertainty and instability.”
Following the successful vote, the proposed changes and delay will now go through a round of informal negotiations between the three EU authorities before being returned to parliament for ratification.
However, everything points to another year-long delay of EUDR, which shows how extremely convoluted these issues are. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, even in the coffee sector, let alone trying to find one that also works for rubber, cocoa, beef, soy, etc. Doing nothing doesn’t seem like a viable solution either. Companies are shortsighted and will buy low-cost if they can. So the question remains and currently the best answer is EUDR.
