Implementation and Supporting Tools
To effectively enforce the EU's deforestation regulation, close cooperation is crucial between member states, who will be responsible for enforcing the law, national regulatory bodies, businesses operating in the relevant sectors, and traders who source commodities from forested areas.
This section provides a brief overview of these actors, as well as their roles and main initiatives.
European Union
Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Protecting and Restoring the World’s Forests (EU)
This platform is intended to disseminate frequent meetings to present and discuss the main strands of work and identify best practices. The aim is continuous dialogue between EU Member States, selected stakeholders (mainly trade and business associations and NGOs), third countries and the European Commission.
EU Observatory on Deforestation and Forest Degradation
This observatory aims to monitor changes in the world’s forest cover and related drivers. Provide a publicly available maps and datasets on changes in the world’s forest cover and associated drivers. Data and information provided on this Observatory play a supporting role but do not assure compliance or imply non-compliance with EU Regulations, other legal frameworks or commitments, or international agreements
Team Europe Initiative on Deforestation-free Value Chains
This collaborative effort brings together the European Commission, the Netherlands, Germany, and France. The TEI will support an inclusive transition to sustainable, deforestation-free and legal supply chains and facilitate trade of a number of commodities with the EU. The TEI will be based on a demand-driven approach from partner countries and offer a platform to enhance coordination amongst all stakeholders in their efforts to combat deforestation, as well as technical assistance and capacity building towards partner governments as well as producers on key issues such as traceability, geo-localisation and land-use mapping.
Green Business
Green Business is an EU environmental initiatives for large and small businesses, trade associations, and public sector authorities. The website has tools, instruments and methods about EU environmental, including the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Here you can find information and resources to help governments, authorities and companies transition to deforestation-free supply chains. The European Commission organize the website to supported in its work by the following tools to ensure an effective implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation.
VPA - FLEGT
Known as the forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) regulation, it ensures that timber and timber products exported to the EU by partner countries that have signed a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) with the EU and implement a FLEGT licensing scheme have been harvested legally.
Partnerships
The EUDR stipulates that the European Union seeks to engage with third countries. In this regard, initiatives such as the SAFE project, the Ad Hoc Joint Task Force with Indonesia and Malaysia, the Team Europe Initiative and the Multi-Stakeholder Platform on Protecting and Restoring the World's Forests are highlighted.
Brazil
Government-Based Deforestation Monitoring Programs and Tools
In recent decades, Brazil has also advanced considerably its systems for deforestation monitoring, especially those covering the Amazon region. Deforestation data on clearcutting of forested areas in the Amazon biome is produced annually by the National Institute for Space Research (INPE for the acronym in Portuguese), through the Project for Monitoring Deforestation in the Legal Amazon by Satellite (Projeto de Monitoramento do Desmatamento na Amazônia Legal por Satélite – PRODES), and the Real-Time Deforestation Detection System (Sistema de Detecção do Desmatamento em Tempo Real – DETER). INPE's main monitoring mechanism is Terrabrasilis. Through its platform, it is possible to analyze geospacial images produced by INPE's PRODES and DETER programs.
Traceability Solutions
Traceability refers to the ability to track and document the origins and movements of products or components throughout the supply chain. It plays a crucial role in helping businesses comply with the EUDR, which requires operators and traders which are not SMEs to collect geographic coordinates of the plots of land where the commodities were produced. Brazil has successfully implemented individual animal traceability in the livestock chain for sanitary purposes. Robust systems like the Brazilian System of Traceability of the Cattle and Buffalo Chain (SISBOV) and the Animal Transit Guide (GTA) provide data essential for domestic and international trade. There is also a Brazilian Traceability System which uses digital blockchain technology for the traceability of agro-industrial products (SIBRAAR for the acronym in Portuguese).
Federal Environmental Agencies
Brazil has an extensive policy framework regulating its forests. At the federal level, the forest management is under the direct responsibility of four institutions.The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA) is responsible for formulating forestry policies. It operates by granting power for sustainable forest production and is responsible for signing forest concession contracts.The Brazilian Forestry Service (SFB) is the administrative institution of the federal public forests for the sustainable production of goods and services. It is also responsible for the generation of information, qualifications, and fostering the forest area.The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and of Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) is the institution responsible for environmental control and inspection, and is also responsible for licensing and environmental control of the Brazilian forests in its area of competence.The Institute Chico Mendes of Conservation and Biodiversity (ICMBio) is responsible for proposing, implementing, managing, protecting, inspecting, and monitoring the Conservation Units instituted by the Federal Government.
Green Seals or Certifications
There are some national, regional or sectoral green seals or certifications in Brazil which guarantee the sustainability of agricultural products. The Brazil Green Seal Program (Programa Selo Verde Brasil) is a federal government initiative that aims to develop a national certification and conformity assessment strategy for Brazilian products and services that have proven to have a socio-environmentally responsible life cycle. The Green Seal-MG (Selo Verde/MG) is a regional initiative that offers individualized information on rural properties in Minas Gerais regarding compliance with national legislation, traceability and socio-environmental criteria for the export of the regional agricultural commodities. In addition, there are also numerous environmental sustainability certifications, such as the Cecafé Seal (Selo Cecafé) which guarantees the sustainability of the coffee agribusiness chain.
Private Sector and Civil Society
Voluntary Supply Chain Certification
Voluntary certification schemes have emerged as a relevant mechanism for improving supply chain transparency and commodity production practices, including meeting deforestation-free targets. Voluntary sustainability standards such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), and others, set guidelines and criteria for sustainable practices in the production and trade of commodities which are linked to deforestation. They often include guidelines to protect high conservation value areas, prevent deforestation, and promote the rights of local communities and workers.
Environmental Geospatial Consultancy
These consultancy services provide geospatial data and satellite monitoring to analyse and evaluate nature-related risks, with a specific focus on biodiversity and deforestation. They bridge the information gap that exists between entreprises and the impacts their operations and investments have on nature and biodiversity by providing data, reports, and documentation to evidence compliance with legislation and offsetting requirements, assist in corporate sustainability reporting and meet consumer and shareholder expectations and climate change commitments.