EU Set To Blacklist Only 4 Countries As “High Risk” Under EUDR – CoffeeTalk

The European Union (EU) is set to label just four countries as high risk for deforestation, excluding major commodity exporters like Brazil and Indonesia, in a move under its anti-deforestation law. Belarus, North Korea, Myanmar, and Russia will be on the blacklist, according to three EU diplomats. The benchmarking is part of the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which ranks countries as high, standard, or low risk. The category determines how strict due diligence rules will be for companies importing crucial agri-food commodities like cocoa, coffee, soy, palm oil, and beef. The deforestation benchmarking, almost two years in the making, has previously stirred diplomatic unease, especially among major exporters like Brazil, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The European Commission has previously floated the idea of targeting only countries already under EU or UN sanctions, a position it appears to have stuck with. Environmental NGOs are likely to be unhappy with the Commission’s move, as 40 NGOs urged the Commission to ensure country benchmarking objectively reflects real human rights and environmental risks.

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