In a joint letter addressed to the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Bioenergy Europe, together with twelve other industry organizations, have shared their concerns on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) Information System highlighting key gaps incompatible with a functioning supply chain.
Dated May 17, 2024, the letter signatories – Bioenergy Europe, Chocolate, Biscuit, and Confectionery of Europe (CAOBISCO), Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), European Association of Trade in cereals, oilseeds, rice, pulses, olive oil, oils, and fats, animal feed and agrosupply (COCERAL), European Leather Industry (COTANCE), European Cocoa Association (ECA), European Coffee Federation (ECF), European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA), Eurocommerce, European State Forest Association (EUSTAFOR), European Vegetable Oil and Proteinmeal Industry (FEDIOL), European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC), European Food and Drink Industry (FoodDrinkEurope) – call on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for urgent action.
The 13 signatories support their respective member companies in successfully implementing the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires significant adjustments from suppliers, operators, and traders to meet its obligations.
The signatories back the EUDR’s goals and keep providing constructive feedback for developing the EUDR Information System.
However, companies involved in the pilot testing of the EUDR Information System in January 2024 have highlighted many gaps that still need to be addressed. They listed the requirements for a fully functional system for DG ENV services, echoed by the undersigned organizations on many occasions.
The last deforestation platform meeting, which took place on April 24, 2024, did not reassure the sector’s stakeholders, and the technical specifications of the Information System and the timeline for making it accessible to all operators and traders still raise serious concerns.
For these reasons, the signatories call for:
- A second round of testing with the business community;
- Making the API specifications ready as of May for business to prepare,
- Lifting the 25MB limitation or substantially increasing file size for uploading files as part of the due diligence statement;
- Accepting other data formats than the only GeoJson standard;
- Opening up the information system for all users as soon as possible and, at the very latest, beginning November 2024.
