AFPIllegal deforestation in Brazil
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 00:01
Of all countries in the European Union, the Netherlands imported the most goods with a risk of deforestation from countries outside the EU last year. The Netherlands is the largest importer of soy, palm oil and cocoa and the second largest importer of timber and beef products. This is reported by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
The Netherlands does not use all of these products for its own consumption; the majority go abroad again after arrival in the port of Rotterdam.
New EU rules that came into effect in June should ensure that imports of products into the EU do not contribute to deforestation. Companies are prohibited from importing goods from land that was deforested after December 2020. Companies that place products with a deforestation risk on the European market must be able to prove that they do not come from recently deforested areas.
Since the new rule came into effect, companies have a year and a half to implement it.
Farmland
The main cause of deforestation is the growing demand for agricultural land. Due to population growth and the increasing demand for food, forests are being cut down to convert the land into fields.
Most risk products shipped to the Netherlands come from Brazil. In 2022 these had a value of 3.2 billion euros. This mainly concerned soy and wood products. The second country of origin for these products is the United States. Ivory Coast, in third place, mainly produces cocoa beans.
2023-09-27 22:01:01
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