EUDR - information from SCA
What is going on with EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) and SCA's implementation. Here we summon the latest news.
The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was officially adopted and entered into force on June 29th 2023. The regulation aims to stop deforestation and forest degradation associated with specific products placed on or exported from the EU market, in particular agriculture crops, but also wood products and solid biofuels. The main provisions in the regulation will apply in December 2024.
Present information April 25, 2024
Implementation status
The Swedish government has appointed a committee to evaluate the regulatory steps needed. The competent authority in Sweden has been appointed and the mission for supervision is assigned the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen).
There are still some uncertainties on how traceability and due diligence shall be performed, which will be further clarified in the EU Commission work group on the issue. Further aspects regarding risk-classification of countries will be clarified in the Member States implementation processes.
Ongoing activities
We are in dialogue with the EU and Swedish authorities as well as customers, the forest industry and certification organisations.
In Sweden, the forest industry has a common platform to oversee the traceability of wood but the EUDR’s requirements will extend beyond its current capabilities. To solve this, we are actively working to develop the systems needed to comply by the end of 2024.
A testpilot phase of the EUDR Information system took place between December18, 2023 and January 31, 2024. One of the outcomes was that there is a need of an API (Application Programming Interface). Development due to the pilot testing is still on-going.
The Swedish company Biometria (responsible for the measuring of the timber) have decided to provide support in the VIOL-system, enabling the transactions of reference numbers. All parties involved in the raw material affair will then have the information that a declaration has been done and the reference number(s) connected to the delivery.
Expections going forward
There all still a lot of issues to be solved. We have, together withthe Swedish Forest Industries Federation, identified two overall questions that needs to be answered by the EU commission, and that we are actively working on as well:
- Is there a possibility to use mass balance for the traceability through terminals and industries?
- What are the criteria to fulfill due diligence and the documentation coupled to that?
We also wait for promised guidelines and new FAQ from the EU.
Previous EUDR information
Implementation status
The Swedish government has appointed a committee to evaluate the regulatory steps needed.The competent authority in Sweden has been appointed and the mission for supervision is assigned the Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen).
There are still uncertainties on how traceability and due diligence shall be performed, which will be further clarified in the EU Commission work group on the issue. Further aspects regarding risk-classification of countries will be clarified in the Member States implementation processes.
Ongoing activities
We are in dialogue with the EU and Swedish authorities as well as customers, the forest industry and certification organisations.
In Sweden, the forest industry has a common platform to oversee the traceability of wood but the EUDR’s requirements will extend beyond its current capabilities. To solve this, we are actively working to develop the systems needed to comply by the end of 2024.
At the moment we are evaluating the EUDR Information system during the ongoing testpilot phase, 18 th December 2023 to 31 January 2024
Expections going forward
- We are looking forward to taking part of the results from the Information system testpilot.
- Meetings will be set up with the Swedish Forest Agency (competent authority).
- Our close co-operation with the forest industry in Sweden and Europe will continue.
