EUDR: The challenges ahead

The Swedish Forest Industries Federation, of which Södra President and CEO Lotta Lyrå is chair, has been involved among others in the dialogue regarding postponement. The aim is to ensure the regulation can be implemented effectively and in a form which does not impede the efficiency of sustainable businesses.

According to The Council, the amendment will not affect the substance of the already existing rules, which is to minimise the EU’s contribution to deforestation and forest degradation worldwide, by only allowing placing on the EU market, or exporting from the EU, deforestation-free products. Deforestation-free products are products that have been produced on land not subject to deforestation or forest degradation after 31 December 2020.

“We fully support the ambition of the EUDR and we have very good traceability thanks to our robust chain of custody in which our industrial facilities are owned by Södra’s 52,000 forest-owner members,” said Erik Karlsson, Strategy and Transformation Manager at Södra Wood.

Södra Wood is relatively well placed to comply with EUDR thanks to the traceability of sawlogs from members supplied via Södra Skog. Södra’s position is to find solutions which enable compliance without undue disruption in the supply chain.

“This is a very IT-heavy challenge. Our internal and external IT providers and the strong cooperation within the Södra Group are geared to meet the original deadline. But the extra time, if confirmed, will enable us to add quality and further automation to the technological solutions which would be even better suited to compliance with EUDR as a result.

“We would also welcome this extension since we are still lacking answers from EU when it comes to various aspects of the process, including risk assessment relating to individual countries and a chance to trial the supporting IT system. We received guidelines and FAQs earlier this month, but still many questions remain unanswered.

“At Södra we are very confident that our value chain is sustainable and we do not have problems with deforestation – quite the opposite in fact. Existing certifications are very effective in safeguarding the future of the forest and as it stands. However we will celebrate the positive effects of the EUDR on reducing deforestation globally but do not underestimate the challenges it poses for this industry.”