MEPs on Thursday (October 22) demanded a turn of the screw by the EU against deforestation in the world, by strengthening the traceability of products likely to contribute to it, and demanded that Brussels take this into account in its trade agreements.
Read also: Deforestation intensifies in the Amazon
Parliament adopted by a large majority a report asking the Commission, the European executive, to present a binding legislative initiative on the subject.
MEPs propose to oblige companies to "
verify at each stage of the value chain that their products do not come from land that has been deforested
" and to provide "
transparent
" information to consumers, according to a parliamentary statement.
In the event of non-compliance, the threat of "
effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions
" should be raised.
3.8 million hectares of primary tropical forests destroyed in 2019
Several studies show that the ban on the entry into the EU of products linked to deforestation "
will have no impact on (...) prices
", says the report.
The legal framework could extend to the destruction of ecosystems other than forests (wetlands, peat bogs, savannas, etc.).
MEPs also want the fight against deforestation to be integrated into trade agreements: a subject on which the ratification of the vast free trade treaty concluded by the EU with the South American countries of Mercosur is also stumbling.
Read also: Is the emergence of the coronavirus linked to deforestation?
The text puts additional pressure on the Commission, which had already indicated that it wanted to legislate next year on the subject.
It “
marks an important step towards an ambitious framework aimed at stopping and reversing global deforestation induced by the EU
”, commented the rapporteur, MEP Delara Burkhardt (S&D, Social Democrats).
In 2019, 3.8 million hectares of primary tropical forests were destroyed, says the report, which highlights the devastation of fires in the Amazon.
Indirectly, "it
is estimated that consumption in the EU contributes at least 10% to global deforestation
", via imports of palm oil, meat, soybeans, cocoa or rubber.
“
Voluntary labels on imported products have failed to prevent the destruction of forests.
(...) The EU must give itself the means to counter the deforestation for which it is responsible, take trade sanctions against the companies and the banks
”which contribute to it, reacted the MEP Michèle Rivasi (Greens).
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