Updates

ITC on EUDR new phase-in period: “There is a way to make regulation work for everyone”

3 October 2024
ITC News

The additional 12 months to phase in the EU deforestation-free products regulation proposed by the European Union Commission will come as welcome relief for stakeholders. ITC believes that a roll out of the regulation with accompanying measures that complement existing national and regional initiatives, is the way to make it work for all.  

Small producers in forests, like this one in Tanzania, will require support to comply with emerging deforestation-free regulation.

The International Trade Centre (ITC) heard the concerns of businesses it works with around the world, including small businesses of producing countries, which will be among the most exposed to the regulation. Many are based in developing or least developed countries. Many work directly with the poorest and most vulnerable producers and communities that are already facing challenges generating a living income from agriculture.  

For ITC, ambitious initiatives to tackle climate change are needed.   

“Small businesses and countries need guidance on how to comply, as well as the capacity and financing needed to act,” says Pamela Coke-Hamilton, ITC’s Executive Director.  

“There’s no panacea, yet there is a way to make the regulation work for as many as possible." 

ITC’s position is that this type of regulation would benefit from being rolled out with accompanying measures that complement existing national and regional initiatives.

For that, partnerships and coordination along supply chains are key.

The International Trade Centre is part of the global effort working to curb deforestation along supply chains. We focus on equipping small businesses in developing countries to actively participate in and benefit from trade, in an environmentally sustainable way. 

ITC has just released a step-by-step guide for all actors along the supply chain to understand the implications of the EU deforestation regulation. This is the latest in a series of handbooks produced to help small businesses understand and act on this regulation.   

An online platform is also being piloted, the Deforestation-free Trade Gateway (DFTG), to streamline compliance with the regulation by facilitating data collection and sharing while ensuring confidentiality. The collaborative platform will work with existing systems to reduce multiple and costly data collection and sharing efforts.  

The DFTG will allow small businesses to manage their data and share it with EU operators to support due diligence statements, so they can use it to become more visible along global supply chains and to gain access to finance and new markets, which ultimately contributes to more resilient, deforestation-free trade.