EU removes leather from anti-deforestation law after industry pressure

The European Commission has decided to exclude imports of leather from ​its anti-deforestation law, it said on Monday, after ‌a campaign by industry groups which argued that production does not incentivise the cattle farming ​that fuels forest destruction.

The exemption will ​remove leather, hides and skins from the ⁠world-first law, which from December will ​require companies selling goods including soy, coffee, beef ​and palm oil into the EU to prove their products did not cause deforestation.

“The main ​driver of deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land ‌linked ⁠to the production of seven commodities covered by the regulation – cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, and some ​of their derived ​products,” ⁠said the European Commission in a statement.”

“Under the Regulation, any operator ​or trader who places these commodities ​on ⁠the EU market, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the ⁠products ​do not originate from ​recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation,” it ​added.

Source: Reuters

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