EU extends deforestation regulation date for Cameroon.

The postponement is the content of a statement the EU released recently. The economic bloc said unlike the initial December 2024 deadline, the new deadline is now December 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, for small businesses.

The Commission said there are uneven preparedness in Europe, with some stakeholders ready, but others not ready for the regulation to go into effect.

“Several global partners have repeatedly expressed concerns about their state of preparedness”, the EU said.

The European Union Deforestation Regulation, EUDR, it should be said, was adopted in May 2023. It aims to ban the import and sale of products linked to deforestation in Europe with emphasis on cocoa, coffee, rubber, palm oil, soy, beef, and wood. 

To comply with the sale of these products in the EU, the regulation provides for certification that they are deforestation-free plus a due diligence declaration submitted through a centralized European Commission system. The new law seeks to stop farming that promotes deforestation.

In a statement issued last September in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire, cocoa-producing countries had requested a two-year extension to comply with the regulation especially geo-locating plots and creating a comprehensive traceability system.

Authorities salute extension

Authorities are already being quoted in media reports as having saluted the delay in implementing the European Union Deforestation Regulation, EUDR. 

It is reported that those concerned with ensuring compliance see the extension as vital in enabling Cameroon to meet requirements.

According to reports, the EU remains the largest cocoa importer, accounting for 60% of global imports, primarily from Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Cameroon.

In response to these challenges, Cameroon recently launched a data-sharing platform overseen by the Cocoa and Coffee Inter-professional Council, CICC. 

The platform, officials had said, centralizes geo-location data for cocoa and coffee plots, provides a detailed map to help exporters ensure the sustainability of their products.

Through the initiative, Cameroon, officials of CICC had remarked, hopes to meet European standards while maintaining its position in the EU market.

The EU had long argued that cocoa is one of the drivers of deforestation in Cameroon. On this score, it had enlisted Cameroon among cocoa producing countries that must meet traceability requirements for its products to access EU markets.

According to the National Institute of Statistics, NIS, cocoa is a strategic resource for Cameroon, representing the country’s third-largest source of foreign exchange in 2023, accounting for 12% of total export revenue, behind crude oil 37.7% and liquefied natural gas 14.1%.

NIS also said, cocoa derivatives such as paste and butter made up 5.2% of total export revenues. In 2023, NIS said exports of raw cocoa to the EU market increased by 18.6%, generating 263.9 billion FCFA.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No: 3261 of Wednesday October 16, 2024