Brussels is seeking to ban imports of foods including beef and coffee from areas at risk of deforestation, in a landmark regulation designed to protect the world’s most vulnerable forests.
Virginijus Sinkevicius, the EU’s commissioner for the environment and oceans, told the Financial Times that Brussels would target six agricultural products — beef, soy, palm oil, coffee, cacao and timber — in a draft anti-deforestation law due to be published on Wednesday.
The regulation would force companies to prove that products they sold into the EU’s single market did not contribute to illegal deforestation or forest degradation through agricultural use. “This regulation showcases our global responsibility and that the EU is walking the talk,” said Sinkevicius.