European Union
Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) - Consultation on Notification to the CMA
COMMUNICATION FROM Brazil, Colombia AND Paraguay
The following communication, dated 8 March 2024, is being circulated
at the request of the delegations of Brazil; Colombia; and Paraguay.
_______________
The Regulation on Deforestation-Free
Supply Chains (EUDR)[1] is inconsistent with the EU's own approach on adoption and notification
of Quantitative Restrictions (QRs) to
the Committee on Market Access. The regulation is likely to create the first environmental Quantitative
Restriction applied unilaterally by the EU.
Taking as time reference the
circulation of the Decision on Notification Procedures for Quantitative
Restrictions, on 3 July 2012[2], all complete notifications[3] from the EU have informed about QRs aimed at protecting the
environment. These QRs implement the provisions from Multilateral Environmental
Agreements, such as the: Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); Minamata Convention on Mercury;
Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; Rotterdam
Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous
Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade; Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants; and the Basel Convention for the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal.
The EUDR, however, is not
justifiable under the provisions of any existing Multilateral Environmental
Agreement. Based upon unilaterally developed concepts, it classifies products
and countries according to deforestation risk levels and imposes cumbersome
obligations on due diligence. The Regulation will severely affect and
virtually ban from the EU market the importation of beef, wood, palm oil, soya,
coffee, cocoa, and rubber and derived products that do not comply with the
requirements of said Regulation.
Considering that this new QR made
effective by the EUDR will prohibit the aforementioned products from being
placed or made available in the EU market, we consult the EU on whether it
intends to notify the Committee on Market Access and, in case positive, what
would be the indication of the grounds and WTO justification.
__________
[1] Regulation (EU) No. 2023/1115 of
the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on the making
available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain
commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation
and repealing Regulation (EU) No. 995/2010. Available on: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023R1115.
[2] Document _G/L/59/Rev.1.
[3] _G/MA/QR/N/EU/1, _G/MA/QR/N/EU/2, _G/MA/QR/N/EU/3, _G/MA/QR/N/EU/4, _G/MA/QR/N/EU/5, _G/MA/QR/N/EU/6.