The Chinese government has just discarded any possibility of complying with the new EU rules on deforestation due to data security concerns regarding the sharing of geolocational data. They join the US Administration in putting pressure on the EU to delay and/or revise the regulation while likening it to ‘non-tariff trade barriers’. It also follows early calls from countries such as Indonesia and Tanzania, two important commodity suppliers, to scrap the new regulation on the basis of being akin to neo-colonialism. Important commercial associations all over the world have joined the cry for a delay in order to allow them to be fully compliant with the rules. So far, there is no indication from the European Commission of changing their mind but the pressure is building up.
China rejects complying with the new EUDR regulation – Jul 2024
