Pelhřimov – Non-governmental foresters and wood processing firms are advocating for a thorough reevaluation of the EU’s anti-deforestation regulation. They emphasize that forested areas in the Czech Republic are on the rise and that there are effective mechanisms in place to monitor the legality of timber harvesting. They argue that the EU regulation imposes an excessive bureaucratic burden. Representatives from the Association of Owners of Municipal, Private, and Church Forests in the Czech Republic (SVOL) and the Association of Forestry and Wood Processing Companies (ALDP) have formally requested a revision and simplification of the regulation, which is scheduled to take effect next year after a delay, from President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. This information was shared in a press release to ČTK today.
The request pertains to the May 2023 regulation concerning the marketing of various commodities and products linked to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU market and their export from the EU (EUDR). According to the organizations, the regulation, as it stands, fails to effectively tackle the import of timber and products from third countries where actual deforestation or forest degradation is occurring. They assert that verifying the entire supply chain when importing from these nations is virtually impossible. Furthermore, they believe the EU regulation imposes unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, elevates financial costs, and hampers the competitiveness of EU forest owners and processors of domestic resources.
“In the Czech Republic, and likely in several other EU member states, deforestation and forest degradation as defined by the EUDR are not taking place,” remarked Jiří Svoboda, chairman of SVOL. Consequently, these organizations are advocating for the addition of a category for low-risk countries that would impose a lighter burden on local economic entities, alongside the current three categories (low, standard, high risk). (May 6)
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