The European Parliament has definitively approved a law which provides that companies will be able to sell in the EU only products whose supplier has issued a declaration of "due diligence" (so-called due diligence) certifying that the product does not come from land deforested and§/or did not contribute to forest degradation, as of December 31, 2020.
As requested by Parliament, companies will also have to verify that these products comply with the relevant legislation of the country of production, with particular reference to human and social rights standards such as the ban on child labor and gender equality; respect for the rights of indigenous populations and original peoples is also of particular importance.
Products affected by the new legislation include livestock, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybeans and wood, including products that contain, have been fed with or have been produced using these products (e.g. leather, chocolate and furniture), following a proposal from the European deputies, dedided to include other products, not present in the first formulation, such as rubber, coal, printed paper products and a series of palm oil derivatives.
Another element of great importance is that relating to the expansion of the definition of forest degradation, which now includes the conversion of primary or naturally regenerated forests into forest plantations or other woodland.
The Commission will classify countries on 3 levels of risk:
• low
• standards
• high
on the basis of an objective and transparent evaluation to be finalized within 18 months of the entry into force of the aforementioned regulation.
Initially everyone will start at the Standard level
There is a simplified due diligence procedure for products from low-risk countries. The percentage of checks on operators depends on the country's risk level: 9% for high-risk countries, 3% for standard-risk countries and 1% for low-risk countries (in the initial version these limits were very highier).
Competent EU authorities will have access to information provided by companies, such as geolocation coordinates.
The controls will be carried out by the Member States with satellite monitoring tools and complete traceability systems to verify the specific provenance of the imported products.
The sanctioning regime, in case of violation of the new regulatory rules, provides for a maximum fine equal to at least 4% of the total annual turnover in the EU to be paid by the operator or trader.
