Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 “on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation” states, in its Article 15, that the European Commission may develop guidelines in order to facilitate its harmonized implementation. This Guidance document has just been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It is not egally binding, but is presented as useful reference material for anyone who must comply with the Deforestation Regulation”, as well as national competent authorities and enforcement bodies.
Reminder of Regulation 2023/1115
This Regulation, designed with a view to “minimising the European Union’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide,” and “reducing the Union’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions and global biodiversity loss”, directly affects several raw materials used in cosmetics (cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soya, etc.).
It provides that operators must exercise due diligence before placing relevant products on the market or exporting them, in order to prove that they are compliant, and make a declaration of this available to the control authorities. They must also provide operators and traders further down the supply chain with all the information necessary to demonstrate that due diligence has been exercised and that the identified risk of non-compliance was zero or only negligible.
The Guidance document
The definitions
The European Commission begins by explaining some of the key terms used in the Regulation, giving the definitions of “Placing on the market”, “Making available on the market”, “Export” and “Operator”.
Due diligence and risk assessment
The Guidance document goes on …
