“EU brands just four countries as 'high risk' under deforestation law”

… Commodities from just four countries will face the strictest checks under the European Union's anti-deforestation law, with major forest nations including Brazil and Indonesia spared the toughest rules.

The European Commission said in an act published on Thursday that the law would categorise goods imported from Belarus, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia as having a "high risk" of fuelling deforestation.

Countries including Brazil and Indonesia, which have historically had among the world's highest rates of deforestation, will be labelled as "standard risk" - which means they will face lighter compliance checks on goods exported to Europe.

The world-first law will impose due diligence requirements on companies placing products including soy, beef, palm oil, timber, cocoa, coffee and chocolate onto the EU market…

Campaigners criticised the EU decision to impose the strictest checks on only four nations, but said even lower-risk countries would face some, albeit simpler, due diligence obligations…

Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) was less optimistic and urged the EU to strengthen controls.

"It is simply unbelievable that Brazil, responsible for 42% of tropical forest loss in 2024, more than a doubling since the previous year, is not rated as high risk," said RFN director Toerris Jaeger, citing a recent report from Global Forest Watch…