The Council and the European Parliament reached an agreement on the final text of the Deforestation regulation. Relevant products linked to deforestation or forest degradation will not be allowed to be imported into or exported from the European Union.
Mandatory due diligence rules will apply for all operators and traders who place, make available or export the following commodities from the EU market: palm oil, beef, timber, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy. The rules also apply to a number of derived products such as chocolate, furniture, printed paper and selected palm oil based derivatives.
The cut-off date is 31 December 2020, meaning only products that have been produced on land that has not been subject to deforestation or forest degradation after that date will be allowed on the EU market.
Once published (in the coming months), the Deforestation Regulation will apply after 18 months. For some micro-enterprises and small enterprises the rules will apply after 24 months.
Edit: The regulation was published and enters into force on 29 June 2023. It will become applicable to most companies on 30 December 2024.