Concepts of European Union Deforestation Law To Stay
Concepts of European Union Deforestation Law To Stay
Coffee Network (Cartagena)- Concepts of the European Union deforestation law such as traceability and georeferencing are here to stay, Alberto Menghini, Head of European Union cooperation in Colombia said.
The European Union deforestation is more than a law is pact that is building the European Union with institutions, providers and countries, Menghini added.
“This is a pact to ensure the decarbonization with the goal of decarbonize by 2050. The European Union’s goal is to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030,” he noted.
Gustavo Gomez, general manager of the Colombian coffee exporters association Asoexport, said the European Union deforestation law will change the future of commercialization of agricultural goods.
Colombia, the world’s third-largest coffee producer, is well-prepared to meet the January 2025 European Union deforestation law, but if the EU’ lawmakers approve the extension by 12 months, the totality of the 650,000 coffee families will be capable of fulfilling with the whole regulation, Gomez recently told Coffee Network in an interview.
Aura Maria Duarte, a former deputy minister of agriculture, and currently advisor, said Colombia is advancing in implementing the deforestation law, “but there are still things to do,” she said.
In terms of georeferencing, Colombia is also taking advantage of existing information from the weather office Ideam and the Rural Planning Unit (UPRA). It also plans to incorporate other institutions such as ICA, the Colombian Agricultural Institute and the tax office DIAN, among others.
But according to Gomez, Colombia is more advanced in the so-called traceability and georeferencing of coffee farms as the coffee platform SICA, known as the coffee information system, has the information of the 650,000 coffee families. The SICA information has been crossed with the recently launched coffee regulation platform implemented by the coffee growers federation, which identifies the producer and georeferences their farms, Gomez recently told Coffee Network in an interview.
Overall, some 24% of Colombia’s total coffee exports are shipped by the European Union. Colombia exported 7.787 million 60-kg bags.
The traceability and georeferencing is also advanced as 30%-40% of Colombia’s coffee exports are certified coffee, which is synonym of traceability.
Another aspect is legality. The EU has enforced a so-called “due diligence” statement confirming that the product does not come from deforested land or has led to forest degradation, including of irreplaceable primary forests, after 31 December 2020. The matrix of regulations says market participants must comply with land rights, human rights, and labor rights, respect of the environment and indigenous.
Duarte said if the grower does not a title on his or her farm cannot be considered illegal, but rather informal. With the government, FNC and Asoexport are also developing the guide of the legality due-diligence.
“There is currently a discussion about what it means to produce coffee legally;” Menghini noted.
Recently, the Council agreed on its position on the targeted amendment of the EU deforestation regulation, postponing its date of application by 12 months.
This postponement will allow third countries, member states, operators, and traders to be fully prepared in their due diligence obligations, which is to ensure that certain commodities and products sold in the EU or exported from the EU are deforestation-free. This includes products made from cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, and some of their derived products.
“Let’s take advantage of this extra year to achieve perfection,” Menghini concluded.
By Diana Delgado
