With only a few months to go before the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) No 2023/1115 comes into force, the European Commission announces that it will propose a one-year extension.
The member states, in turn, according to Reuters, would even be willing to propose the repeal of EUDR. (1) Finance orders and politics executes.
1) Land grabbing and deforestation, preamble
Land grabbing and deforestation have been going on continuously for half a century now, in the entire tropical belt between Central and South America, Central Africa, South-East Asia and Oceania. The pattern is always the same:
-military or mercenaries drive the inhabitants out of the territories with savage violence, fires and chemical weapons
-fires are set to clear the areas of all vegetation cover, in preparation for new crops
-watercourses are diverted to serve the new intensive monoculture plantations.
The protagonists of these operations are the large producers of palm oil, soya (and beef, limited to South America). (2,3,4) Which feed the global commodities business, concentrated in the hands of a few giants. (5)
2) Fundamental human rights
Cocoa and coffee production– when not preceded by land robbery, as is the case with palm oil and soya – are often associated with other violations of fundamental human rights.
Slavery and child exploitation are in fact widely documented in both these supply chains, as we have seen. (6) To the point of even stimulating a class action in the USA against Cargill, Mars and Mondelēz. (7)
3) European Union Deforestation Regulation, EUDR
The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) – after a heated debate that registered threats from the governments of Malaysia and Indonesia to western politicians (8) – has finally introduced specific due diligence criteria to be applied throughout the palm oil, soya, beef, cocoa, coffee, timber and rubber supply chains.
The empowerment of downstream operators in the supply chains, starting with the large international traders, was identified as the key to ensuring:
-the stopping of deforestation after December 31, 2020, thanks to the geolocalisation of crops and traceability of products
-the absence of abuses of fundamental human rights, including child and worker exploitation. (9)
4) One year extension?
The European Commission, according to the latest rumours, has now decided to pay yet another homage not to the indigenous communities violently torn from their lands, nor to the children forced to pick up heavy palm bushes, (10) but rather to their torturers and to those who make extraordinary profits from these abominations.
The European Union thus continues to contribute to 13-16% of deforestation worldwide, even though it accounts for a paltry 7% of the global population (Natural Resources Institute data). As well as favoring the big commodity exporters and traders, instead of investing in its agriculture to favour the productive autonomy of the Old Continent. (11)
#Égalité, #PaceTerraDignità
Dario Dongo
Footnotes
(1) Bart H. Meijer, Maytaal Angel. EU proposes to delay landmark anti-deforestation law by 12 months. Reuters. October 2, 2024 https://tinyurl.com/4nzd6mx9
(2) Dario Dongo. BBC Indonesia. Voice to the indigenous people robbed to produce palm oil. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4.6.22
(3) Dario Dongo . Brazil, land grabbing and deforestation for Ferrero and Big Food’s ‘sustainable’ palm oil. Open letter. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 22.5.23
(4) Dario Dongo. Land robbery and deforestation, palm oil and GMO soybeans. #Buycott! GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 4.8.19
(5) Dario Dongo. The tentacles of finance on food sovereignty and our food. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 31.3.24
(6) Dario Dongo. Nespresso: B-Corp certification and human rights and environmental abuses. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 31.7.22
(7) Dario Dongo. Child abuse in cocoa, class action in USA . GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade).
(8) Dario Dongo. Palm Oil: Indonesia and Malaysia Hide Data and Threaten Europe. #Buycott! GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 18.8.19
(9) Dario Dongo. Deforestation Regulation. Due diligence on critical raw materials begins. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 29.7.23
(10) Marta Strinati, Dario Dongo. USA, Girl Scouts against Ferrero cookies. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 9.1.21
(11) European Commission. Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council, amending Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 as regards provisions relating to the date of application (COM/2024/452 final) https://tinyurl.com/3kpazvam
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
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