Deforestation Regulation - Leather Working Group

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Deforestation Regulation

There are a growing number of regulations being proposed that will impact leather supply chains. Most advanced is the regulation from the European Union (EU) aiming to minimise the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products that are imported into or exported from any EU member states. To stay informed about the latest updates regarding these regulations, please find the relevant links below.

European Union

The regulation on deforestation-free products requires operators and traders within the European Union market, who engage in the sale or export of goods including soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, rubber, as well as specific derived products like leather, chocolate, and furniture, to provide evidence that their products are sourced from regions free from recent deforestation or any involvement in forest degradation.
The scope of the regulation for leather covers raw material, part processed, and finished leather, but not finished products containing leather.
To access the regulation, please follow the link here

United Kingdom

The UK ran a second consultation on how to implement due diligence on forest risk commodities.
To access the consultation documents and view a summary of this process, please refer to the following link here

United States of America

The USA has a proposed bipartisan bill the Fostering Overseas Rules of Law and Environmentally Sound Trade (FOREST) Act aimed at reducing illegal deforestation.
For further information, please refer to the following link here

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