European Union rules aimed at stopping deforestation threaten widespread disruption for Southeast Asia’s rubber sector, from Cambodia’s 30,000 small farmers to major exporters in Thailand and Malaysia.
The EU’s deforestation regulation (EUDR) aims to ban imports of seven commodities — cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood items — if they come from land that was deforested after Dec. 31, 2020.
Companies dealing in such imports will have to provide “conclusive and verifiable information” mapping their supply chains, including geolocation data for where products were grown, to ensure products are compliant. Compliance will become mandatory in December 2024 for larger companies and in June 2025 for smaller ones.
