Korea Classified as Low-Risk Country in EU Deforestation Prevention Law Assessment

The European Union (EU) classified South Korea as a low-risk country on the 22nd (local time) when announcing the national risk grades for the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). According to the Korea Forest Service, 140 countries, including South Korea, were classified as low-risk countries. High-risk countries include North Korea, Russia, Belarus, and Myanmar, while countries like Brazil, Indonesia, and Malaysia were classified as standard-risk countries. The EUDR, effective from December 30th, will require businesses distributing seven products and their derivatives in the EU market—cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, rubber, and timber—to submit due diligence reports verifying that product production is unrelated to deforestation or forest degradation. The EU is known to have primarily considered the degree of forest conversion to agricultural land in this assessment. The Korea Forest Service evaluates that South Korea's low-risk designation recognizes that its forests are ...