Study finds green labels fall short on EU deforestation law

A study has claimed that all five of the main green labels used to denote that products meet sustainability and deforestation standards do not wholly satisfy the recently adopted EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The voluntary sustainability standard (VSS) labels – Fairtrade International for coffee and cocoa, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for wood and natural rubber, Rainforest Alliance for coffee and cocoa, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) for oil palm, and Round Table on Responsible Soy Association (RTRS) for soya – met some of the EUDR requirements, but none did so fully, according to the paper in the journal Forest Policy and Economics.

They also fell short on processes designed to ensure that organisations certified to use the labels adhered to the standards, with examples where they were able to retain certification despite violations.

The EUDR was enacted last year to help consumers identify products that fight deforestation and forest degradation associated with the trade of forest-risk commodities, including cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood, and allow manufacturers to promote their green credentials. It comes into full effect at the end of this year.

"Although these schemes encompass a comprehensive framework for ensuring sustainable commodity production and trade, their effectiveness in fulfilling the specifications of the EUDR is limited," write the study authors, from the Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF) at the University of Padova in Italy. They point out however that the labels were created before the EUDR.

Traceability failings

The study also found that the assessed labels' traceability systems to allow products to be followed back to the plot of land used to produce them "do not fully cover EUDR requirements" and that therefore these schemes "can support due diligence, but not demonstrate compliance with the EUDR."

Recent projects such as blockchain traceability of agriculture and forestry products could point to a possible solution, they suggest.

Environmental activist group Earthsight has been scrutinising green labels for many years, and said that the study provides fresh evidence of "systemic flaws…and why they cannot be solely relied upon to address deforestation and forest degradation."

Some certification schemes not only fail to meet the EUDR, but also the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) that preceded it and came into force in 2010, it added, contending that "policymakers must continue to ensure that such schemes are not relied on for EUDR implementation, either in theory or practice."

"The study acknowledges that some schemes have started working to close identified gaps and improve their alignment with EUDR," said Earthsight.

"However, Earthsight's monitoring of those ongoing efforts suggests that they will not be able to fix all of the many discrepancies identified by the study. Huge holes are likely to remain."