The European Union has voted to postpone implementing a key antideforestation law for the second year in a row, citing technical concerns. Critics of the move warn that a delay and other proposed changes will further weaken the law. On Nov. 26, the European Parliament voted 402 to 250 in favor of an amendment that delays a start date for the landmark European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and introduces an array of exemptions to the law. When the law goes into effect, it will ban EU nations from importing goods like soy, beef, cocoa and palm oil that come from areas deforested after 2020. If the amendment is ratified, it will delay EUDR implementation another year to Dec. 30, 2026, with an additional grace period for small businesses through June 30, 2027. The EUDR was originally set to take effect at the end of 2024, before being pushed forward a year to December 2025. “EU lawmakers are subjecting the EUDR to death by a thousand cuts,” Nicole Polsterer, a campaigner at Netherlands-based nonprofit Fern, told Mongabay by email. “The endless carousel of attempts to revise and even destroy a law that was passed with a large democratic mandate two years ago, are a farce.” Along with the delay, European lawmakers also made a series of changes to the original law. Printed books and newspapers were removed from the scope of the law, a move perceived to benefit the forestry industry. Small operators from countries classified as “low risk” under the…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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