Because “considering the differentiation of the leather downstream value chain from the meat value chain, asymmetries in trade flows between meat and hides, and the relatively low economic value of cattle skins and hides compared to meat within the overall cattle production, economic operators in the Union have limited leverage to demand the information necessary to comply with Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 from their suppliers.” And because the EUDR, by not extending to the import of finished leather goods, would create a distortion in the global materials market without mitigating any risk (even if such risk existed). For these reasons, the European Commission’s delegated act excludes bovine leather from the EUDR, the anti-deforestation regulation whose entry into application is scheduled (after two postponements) for 2027.
Bovine leather excluded from the EUDR
The European Commission’s delegated act on the EUDR had been expected in the spring. Following the European Parliament’s vote last November, Brussels committed to incorporating, in the regulation’s revision process, the simplification requests put forward by both EU industry sectors and global partners and stakeholders. As reported by Euractiv, the Commission has removed bovine leather at all stages of processing from Annex I of the Regulation. The material is not a driver of deforestation, as claimed by supply chain operators and confirmed by the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa; nor can tanneries, as acknowledged in the delegated act, activate the economic leverage necessary to influence the red meat industry.
Next steps
For the exclusion to become definitive, it is first necessary to wait for the Commission’s 30-day public consultation. Then, after the Commission’s notification, the Council and the European Parliament will have a 60-day period during to approve the delegated act (which concerns bovine leather, but not only) or request its revision in its entirety.
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