Deforestation Regulation: provisions relating to the date of application

Decision

The European Parliament adopted amendments on 14 November 2024 to the proposal amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 and referred the matter back for interinstitutional negotiations to the committee responsible pursuant to Rule 60(4). The adopted text replaces several recitals and inserts multiple new provisions into Articles 3, 4, 5, 16 and 29.

What Changes

The amendments replace the three-tier benchmarking system with a four-tier classification adding a "no risk" category and require the Commission to publish benchmarking data and risk classifications and to ensure an exchange platform is functional at least six months before the date of application. Operators placing products from low-risk countries may use simplified due diligence, competent authorities must apply enhanced scrutiny for high-risk countries, products from "no risk" countries are subject to defined documentation requirements under a new Article 5(1a), and Member States must check at least 0.1% of operators dealing with no-risk commodities annually.

Who Is Affected

The changes affect operators, traders, competent authorities, Member States, the European Commission and third countries producing or trading relevant commodities.