Brussels Identifies Cocoa, Coffee, and Palm Oil Producing Countries at Risk of Deforestation

"Countries identified in the high-risk category in this first reference list are subject to sanctions from the UN Security Council or the European Union Council regarding the import or export of relevant raw materials and products," the European Commission stated in a communiqué. The classification is an essential part of the EU's Imported Deforestation Law, a pioneering environmental regulation key to the European Green Deal approved in the previous community legislature, and revised downward with the political cycle change in Brussels, granting importers one more year to comply with the regulation. The revision occurred after intense pressure from some industries, political parties, and countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, the United States, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. None of them appear on the European list of high-risk countries, which determines "the level of compliance controls that the competent authorities of ...