Deforestation-free and legal supply chains

Background and Objective

The destruction and degradation of forests worldwide is being driven by forest conversion to agricultural land, unsustainable forest management and illegal logging. Forest destruction has far-reaching environmental, economic and social consequences. The EU has recognized its indirect but critical role in deforestation and forest degradation, which is driven by EU consumption of raw materials whose production can threaten forests.

The EU has launched numerous initiatives to assist third countries in combating illegal logging and related trade, and in combating deforestation. As a demand-side environmental trade instrument, the EU first adopted the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) in 2010 and then the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Supply Chains (EUDR) in 2023. The EUDR aims to ensure that only deforestation-free, degradation-free and legal products are available on the EU market.

EU companies that import and trade timber and timber products, as well as products made from the agricultural commodities soy, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, rubber, or cattle, must ensure that the traded products are not harmful to forests by auditing their supply chains according to the due diligence principle.

Target Group

Policy, science, stakeholders affected by the EUDR (market participants, control authorities, producers)

Approach

We address current issues from the negotiation context and implementation process and prepare working papers, policy briefs and journal articles based on existing literature and data.

Our Research Questions

We analyze the feasibility and challenges of the EU regulation to curb trade in products associated with deforestation, forest degradation and illegality.

What are the impacts of the EU regulation for companies and control authorities? Are the EUDR requirements implementable for them, and what are the associated burdens? How can operators’ compliance be assessed and monitored?

Can the EUDR be effective and efficient in reducing deforestation, forest degradation in producer countries and the trade of illegal products? How can its impacts be measured? And what are the implications for the timber market? How could the instrument be improved?

Are there improvements compared to the predecessor regulation EU Timber Regulation (EUTR)? And is the EUDR coherent with other EU policies and international frameworks?

Preliminary Results

Project Briefs:

• EU-trade in wood-based products – coverage by EUTR and EUDR. Project brief 2022/39a (EN) Köthke, Weimar: DOI:3220/PB1667295742000

Links and Downloads

• Thünen Centre of Competence on the Origin of Timber: Expertise
• Thünen Earth Observation: Deforestation and Restauration

Projects:

• The European Timber Regulation and its effects
• GEOS-EUDR
• RiMoDi