Deforestation-Free Products

• Objectives of the Regulation
• Which commodities are included?
• Obligation to exercise due diligence: what will be expected of operators?
• Duties of the BLE
• Consequences for the EU Timber Regulation No 995/ 2010
• What rules apply to products that already have a FLEGT licence?
• Further information

Source: Paralaxis - iStock/ getty images plus via Getty Images

The EU has therefore adopted legally binding rules. Using an approach of binding corporate due diligence, a new EU regulation aims to ensure the goal of deforestation-free products. Regulation (EU) No 2023/1115 for Deforestation-Free Products was adopted by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on 31 May 2023. It entered into force on 29 June 2023 and will apply from 30 December 2024 after a transitional period of 18 months.

The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, BLE) is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the Regulation in Germany. Above all, the BLE will monitor compliance of the operators with the obligations arising from the Regulation. The monitoring of domestic commodities and products from cattle, soya and timber, on the other hand, will lie within the responsibility of the respective federal state authorities.

The BLE has started preparing the implementation of the Regulation.

Objectives of the Regulation

In order to minimise the EU’s contribution to global deforestation and forest degradation and to reduce the EU’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss, in the future, relevant commodities and products may only be placed on the EU market, made available in or exported from the EU if

• they are deforestation-free,
• they have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production; and
• they are covered by a due diligence statement

Deforestation-free means that the relevant commodities must not have been produced on land that was deforested after 31 December 2020 or, in the case of timber and timber products, that the timber was harvested without forest degradation having occurred in the respective forest after 31 December 2020.

Which commodities are included?

The regulation applies to the relevant commodities wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, oil palm, soya and cattle as well as the products derived therefrom in accordance with Annex I of the Regulation.

Obligation to exercise due diligence: what will be expected of operators?

The Regulation requires operators to exercise due diligence before importing relevant products or making them available on the EU market or exporting them from the EU.

1. Operators and non-SME traders

Before placing relevant products on the market or making them available or exporting them, operators and non-SME traders must exercise due diligence for all relevant products provided by each individual supplier.
Due diligence initially involves the collection of certain information, data and documentation relating to the origin of the consignment. On this basis, a risk assessment is carried out to determine whether there is a danger that the relevant products are not in compliance with the Regulation. If the risk assessment reveals that there is a non-negligible risk, procedures and measures must be taken to mitigate the risk. The goods concerned may only be placed on the EU market, made available in the EU or exported from the EU if there is no risk, or at most a negligible risk, that they are not in compliance with the Regulation.

Simplified due diligence
For relevant commodities and products from countries classified by the EU Commission as low-risk countries, a special arrangement applies, i.e. simplified due diligence.

Due diligence statement
If operators and non-SME traders come to the conclusion that the relevant products comply with the Regulation, they shall submit an electronic due diligence statement via the information system set up by the EU Commission prior to placing the products on the market, making them available or exporting them.

2. SME traders

In contrast, SME traders may only make relevant products available on the market if they collect and document information on buyers and sellers.

Duties of the BLE

The BLE will carry out checks on operators and traders established in Germany as well as on relevant products, using a risk-based approach. Minimum inspection rates apply, which differ depending on the classification of the countries by the EU Commission:

• Low-risk countries: minimum inspection rate of 1 per cent
• Standard-risk countries: minimum inspection rate of 3 per cent
• High-risk countries: minimum inspection rate of 9 per cent

The list of countries will be published no later than 30 December 2024.

Further duties of the BLE will include:

• the detection, elimination and prevention of violations,
• the taking of provisional or immediate measures,
• the punishment of violations,
• co-operation with customs authorities, with (customs) authorities of other Member States and with the Commission.

Consequences for the EU Timber Regulation No 995/ 2010

The Regulation on deforestation-free products repeals the EU Timber Regulation No 995/2010 (https://www.ble.de/DE/Themen/Wald-Holz/Handel-Holz/EU-Holzhandelsverordnung/eu-holzhandelsverordnung_node.html) with effect from 30 December 2024. However, for a transitional period of three years until 31 December 2027, the EU Timber Regulation will continue to apply to timber and timber products produced before 29 June 2023 and placed on the market from 30 December 2024.

What rules apply to products that already have a FLEGT licence?

Timber products that fall within the scope of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 and are covered by a valid FLEGT licence (https://www.ble.de/DE/Themen/Wald-Holz/Handel-Holz/FLEGT/flegt_node.html) are considered legal under the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation, i.e. produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production. In order for these products to be placed or made available on the European Union market, they must also be deforestation-free and be covered by a due diligence statement.

Further information

The BLE will update this site as soon as new information on the implementation of the Regulation is available from the EU Commission. The BLE is also planning to provide additional information.