The new rules would force companies to prove they were not selling products that came from land that had been cleared of forest,or environmentally degraded,dating back to 2020.
Farmers defended Australian agriculture’s environmental record but ecologists list land clearing as a top cause of wildlife losses.Nick Moir
While the European parliament has voted to adopt the regulations,member nations of the European Union must ratify the rules and it remains to be seen if they vote to implement them.
But the controversy may create a headache for Australia’s long-running push to cut a trade deal with the EU,with European farmers already sceptical of increasing trade access to a major export nation like Australia. British farmers also lobbied against a,which the United Kingdom nevertheless inked in May.
European parliament official Christophe Hansensaid the EU was responsible for about 10 per cent of global deforestation due to the products it consumed and the new regulations were designed to halt the environmental losses.
They would apply to companies selling beef,cocoa,coffee,palm oil,soya as well as wood and furniture,including goods that have been made or fed with these products.
“We are serious about fighting climate change and biodiversity loss ... we have no choice but to ramp up our efforts to halt global deforestation,” Hansen said.
Farmers defended Australian agriculture’s environmental record despite 680,688 hectares of woody vegetation being cleared in,mostly on grazing land.
National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson said Australia was a leader in sustainable agriculture.
Farmers argue that “thinning” of vegetation in certain areas,such as mulga country in Queensland,to expand livestock grazing,should not be deemed deforestation.
Australia has lost more mammal species than any other continent and more than a dozen ecosystems are collapsing.
“We don’t need well-intentioned people on the other side of the world telling us how to care for our unique environment,” Simson said.
“We all want to stop biodiversity loss,but this can look very different in an Australian context where we’re forced to actively manage introduced and invasive species to protect biodiversity.”
Ecologists list land clearing as a top cause of wildlife losses and theState of the Environment report – a f prepared by leading scientists – said between 2000 and 2017,there were across Australia.
Wilderness Society national campaigns director Amelia Young said her organisation lobbied the European parliament to ramp up land-clearing protections earlier this year.
“There’s a long tradition of Australians seeking international support to protect the continent’s precious flora and fauna,” Young said.
“A famous example is when the Wildlife Preservation Society enlisted the help of President Herbert Hoover to stop the culling of koalas to sell as fur coats in the United States in the 1930s.”
The European regulations could capture Australian native forest products that have been produced by companies that local courts have found breached Australian environment laws.
They would also compel companies to ensure they have complied with international human rights law,including the right of Indigenous people to prior,free and informed consent for development on their land,which could apply to land clearing for mining.
Australian Conservation Foundation nature campaigner Nathaniel Pelle said it was possible Australia would be the only developed country where beef production would be classified as “high risk” under Europe’s regulations.
Trade Minister Don Farrell will meet with a delegation from the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade to discuss issues like land clearing bans and progress on trade deal negotiations.
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