The European Union has agreed on a new law that would ban the import of products linked to deforestation as it believes the rules would cut carbon emissions worldwide.
This means that household goods such as coffee, chocolate and some furniture will have to pass strict checks to ensure forests weren’t damaged to create them.
While some Environmental groups such as Greenpeace see it as a welcome development and a breakthrough, some countries are afraid the rules would hurt international trade.
According to reports, the rules will not only cover palm oil, cattle, soy, coffee, cocoa, timber and rubber that is imported into the EU but also anything derived from these products, such as beef, the European Commission said in a press release.
Companies selling their products into the EU could face fines of up to four per cent of their annual EU turnover if they could not prove their goods are not linked to deforestation.
In an impact assessment by European Commission, it is estimated that the new law would protect at least 71,920 hectares (278 sq miles) of forest annually, that is around 100,000 football pitches and it would also reduce annual global carbon emissions by 31.9 million metric tons per year.
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The European Council and the European Parliament are yet to ratify the agreement and the law is only enforceable 20 days after it is formally accepted, which is expected to happen next year, the European Commission told the BBC.
Once it becomes law, operators and traders will have 18 months to adhere to the new regulations and smaller companies will have 24 months to adapt. Companies will have to specifically prove their goods were not produced on land that was deforested after December 2020.
The law change would have little or no impact on prices to consumers, a European Commission spokesperson said, adding it would work with outside countries to improve their regulation capacity, as countries such as Brazil and Indonesia said the rules would be burdensome and costly and Canada’s ambassador to the EU said the rules would hurt trade between Canada and the EU.
The announcement comes on the eve of the COP-15 summit on biodiversity, which is scheduled to run from 7 to 19 December.
Story was adapted from the BBC.
