The European Union’s deforestation-free products regulation (EUDR) won’t affect the operations of Brazil’s paper and pulp industry, which has already traced its supply chains “from farm to factory” for more than two decades and doesn’t source from illegal deforested areas, the country’s industry association says. However, the fulfillment of some specific EUDR requirements compel companies to invest in blockchain and other technologies, which could increase the cost per ton of pulp by up to $230, according to the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá). “Although for Ibá’s members the [EUDR] adjustments have not changed their business model, nevertheless they have demanded and will continue to demand higher production costs,” Ibá tells Mongabay in an emailed interview. Production costs will likely increase between $40 and $230 per ton of pulp depending on the size and complexity of the supply chain, Ibá says, referring to estimates from RISI Fastmarkets, a leading information provider for the forest products industry. The EUDR, initially planned to come into effect this month and recently postponed for another year, will require suppliers to prove that their products exported to the EU aren’t sourced from illegally deforested areas. The legislation followed increasing claims of commodities exports to the EU linked to illegal deforestation. In Brazil, experts say the EUDR will help halt illegal deforestation in the Amazon. Deforestation in the Amazon in 2022. Image by Rhett Ayers Butler / Mongabay. Brazil exports 4.4 million tons of pulp to the EU per year, an essential input for the tissue paper market,…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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