The commodities affected by the law include wood, cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, and soy. Products containing these commodities must also comply with the requirements. If it cannot be proven that a product is deforestation-free, has been produced in accordance with the legislation of the country of production, and is covered by a certificate to that effect, it may not be sold within or exported from the EU.
What is meant by deforestation and forest degradation?
Deforestation
Deforestation means converting forest into agricultural land. This means that timber from harvesting, done to convert land into agricultural land, will not be sellable. Since cattle are also covered by the law, meat from cattle that have grazed on such land cannot be sold either. Therefore, Södra does not contract any harvesting where the primary purpose is conversion from forest to agricultural purposes. However, it is assessed that grazing as a management measure within forestry is allowed as an action within, for example, nature conservation areas as it promotes natural values and biodiversity.
The proposal includes:
- No forest may be converted to land for agricultural use.
Forest degradation
Forest degradation means converting ancient forest into planted forest or forest plantation, or converting naturally regenerated forest into a forest plantation.
The proposal includes:
- Ancient forest may only be converted through natural regeneration.
- Naturally regenerated forest may only be converted to planted forest and naturally regenerated forest.
- Planted forest may be converted to trees and bushland, forest plantation, planted forest, and naturally regenerated forest.
Impact on forest owners
Anyone harvesting forests will need to show that the forest that has been harvested has not contributed to deforestation or forest degradation. This should be certified through registration in the EU's database where a reference number is assigned that then follows the delivery through the value chain. Thus, when you register delivery timber, you will need to specify which compartments/areas the timber comes from, which means a new step in the notification process. As a forest owner, when contacting Södra, you will not need to handle the EU's system for the registration of timber, as the registration occurs by Södra, either as an operator or as a proxy for delivery timber.
Södra's viewpoints
The purpose of the legislation is good - to counteract global deforestation. However, Södra believes that the regulation does not take into account the situation in Sweden where there are sometimes good reasons to convert forest land into agricultural land. Södra has raised this issue and works to ensure that landowners are not caught between when they want to develop their forest/agriculture.
The major change for Södra's industries concerns the requirements for traceability and the administrative management that follows. According to the law, the wood fiber should be traceable from end product all the way to the harvesting site. However, the law is not adapted to the industry's complex raw material flow, and Södra argues that simplifications are needed for the legislation to function in practice. It's important to ensure that the raw material complies with the law, but unnecessary reporting and administration should be avoided.
Timeline
The law applies from December 30, 2025. Originally the law was to apply December 30, 2024, but this has been postponed by a year to give companies more time to adapt to the new requirements for tracking and reporting that the legislation entails. Even though the application has been postponed, the requirements that raw materials and products should be free from deforestation apply already now.
In 2025, the EU Commission will develop guidance documents and consider simplifications.