Europe’s Coffee Traders Urge EU to Delay Deforestation Rules

  • Farmers not ready for changes by end of 2024, trade group says
  • Law to have “shattering” impact on smallholder coffee farmers

Coffee berries harvested at a plantation in Banyuwangi, Indonesia. 

Photographer: Andrew Lotulung/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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Europe’s coffee industry has urged the European Union to delay the implementation of its ground-breaking deforestation rules citing a potentially devastating impact on millions of growers.

The EU’s ban on imports of commodities produced on newly deforested land will force companies to trace their supplies back to a plot of land and submit the proof, which includes geolocation coordinates of farms. Failing to do so will result in costly penalties.