The EU Commission has decided against reopening its anti-deforestation law – but has exempted leather imports from the scope of the bill.
Benjamin Fox
Leather imports will now be excluded from the scope of the EU’s anti-deforestation law, as part of a review aimed at simplifying the regulation published by the EU Commission on Monday (4 May) — but Brussels has defied demands by the US Trump administration to give US firms a blanket exemption from the law.
Last month, a US government and industry delegation toured European capitals to push for the EU to introduce a ‘no-risk’ category to the country benchmarks in the law.
The ‘no risk’ category was proposed by rightwing MEPs back in 2024 but rejected by EU governments.
But the commission has shied away from a re-write of the regulation and defied the heavy lobbying by the Trump administration.
However, it has exempted leather imports from the law’s scope after concluding that production of skins and hides does not incentivise the cattle farming that fuels forest destruction.
“The main driver of deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land linked to the production of seven commodities covered by the regulation – cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, and some of their derived products,” said the commission in a statement.
The limited changes to the law have reassured environmental activists who had feared that the review would be used to further unpick the law’s provisions.
Meanwhile, industry players in the cocoa and coffee sectors have complained that they have invested heavily in meeting the due diligence rules.
Coffee giants unite
A group of coffee industry giants, including JDE Peet’s, Tchibo, Louis Dreyfus Company, Neumann Kaffee Group, Touton and Sucafina, have teamed up in a Coffee Canopy Partnership to use high-resolution satellite imagery from Airbus to produce detailed maps of coffee-growing areas across Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda, in order to meet the traceability standards.
“What we need now is decisive implementation, clear enforcement, and the political will to stand by the commitments already made,” said Anke Schulmeister‑Oldenhove of the environmental NGO, WWF.
“Delays and half-baked amendments have already come at a tangible cost for businesses and nature,” said Schulmeister‑Oldenhove.
The commission’s review proposed several exclusions from the scope, such as leather or retreaded tyres. Elsewhere, it plans to add instant coffee and palm oil derivatives.
