Rubber industry urges European Parliament to retain 'substance of EUDR'

Brussels – As the European Parliament prepares for a vote on amendments to the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR*), rubber industry organisations have voiced concern over the impact of certain proposals on the industry.

MEPs are convening 14 Nov to vote European Commission (EC) amendments – essentially to delay and facilitate implementation of the EUDR – as well as subsequent MEP amendments that would significantly alter the regulation.

Last month, the EU Council approved the EC's proposals to move the regulation’s date-of-entry into application from 30 Dec 2024 to 30 Dec 2025, with small and micro-enterprises having an extended deadline of 30 June 2026.

However, a new set of MEP amendments in November, propose more potentially significant changes to the EUDR as originally drafted by the Commission. 

These latest proposals, for instance, aim to remove responsibilities from traders down the supply-chain and introduce a 'value-chain that polices itself'.

A further MEP proposal concerns the introduction of a new ‘no or negligible’ risk category covering regulated commodities originating from certain regions.

However, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers' Association (ETRMA) expressed its concerns over these latest amendments.

If approved, said the association, these proposals would open “a new phase of uncertainty” regarding the content of the regulation and its timing.

“The whole natural rubber ecosystem, from producers, processors and traders to tire and rubber goods manufacturers in Europe, needs certainty,” ETRMA emphasised in a 13 Nov statement to ERJ

“If the European Parliament passes any amendments to the Commission’s proposal, they will need to enter into negotiations with national EU governments,” ETRMA explained.

National governments, it said, have already consented at ambassadors’ level to delaying the EUDR’s application by one year, but have sought no other changes to the law’s substance.

“Only a few weeks away from the original entry into force of EUDR, this situation causes great uncertainty to the industry impacted by the regulation,” ETRMA concluded.

Similarly, the Singapore-based Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) issued a statement 14 Nov urging MEPs “not to re-open the regulatory text”.

GPSNR has written to MEPs urging them to “use the proposal for amendments solely to create certainty about the timeline and not change the substance of the regulation.”

GPSNR members represent almost 60% of the global NR demand and include OEMs, manufacturers of rubber products, producers and traders of natural rubber, smallholder farmers, and civil society.

“All these stakeholders have worked tirelessly and swiftly to comply with the regulation, whose original date-of-implementation is weeks away,” said the platform.

“MEPs have a key role in ensuring the European Commission uses the proposed additional 12 months for implementation to resolve the remaining issues,” it added.

Such issues, it said, include the functioning of the information system and the necessary secondary legislation, such as the benchmarking system.

Initially set to come into effect 30 Dec 2024, the EUDR aims to ensure that certain commodities - including natural rubber, coffee, cocoa, palm oil, soya, beef and wood - which are placed on the EU market or exported from the EU, have not caused deforestation or forest degradation during their production.