An area larger than the EU was lost to deforestation between 1990 and 2020, says the European Parliament. \ Richard Carey
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon is seeking support from other EU member states to make changes to the EU’s deforestation regulation.
The law, which could see more red tape piled on Irish farmers, aims to prevent products which contributed towards deforestation being placed on the EU market.
“I’m talking to like-minded EU countries. We’ve got to get changes. The reporting requirements on our farmers as they currently stand are not acceptable, and this regulation is to come into effect at the end of this year.
“[For] other countries that would have very little deforested land like Ireland, we have to get a reporting requirement that is not onerously based on the farmer or the product.
Data
“We’ve an awful lot of data that we collect nationally that we should be able to use,” he said. The minister said Ireland and Luxembourg are taking the lead on the issue and are putting together a joint memo.
He said that countries must come together and articulate proposed changes to the regulation to the Commission.
“The current approach won’t work. We absolutely need a pause from these regulations coming in at the end of the year to give us a chance to implement more practical measures that don’t have onerous over-regulation.
“At a time of simplification this would fly in the face of simplification. We need further changes around the regulation before it comes into effect.”
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Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon is seeking support from other EU member states to make changes to the EU’s deforestation regulation.
The law, which could see more red tape piled on Irish farmers, aims to prevent products which contributed towards deforestation being placed on the EU market.
“I’m talking to like-minded EU countries. We’ve got to get changes. The reporting requirements on our farmers as they currently stand are not acceptable, and this regulation is to come into effect at the end of this year.
“[For] other countries that would have very little deforested land like Ireland, we have to get a reporting requirement that is not onerously based on the farmer or the product.
Data
“We’ve an awful lot of data that we collect nationally that we should be able to use,” he said. The minister said Ireland and Luxembourg are taking the lead on the issue and are putting together a joint memo.
He said that countries must come together and articulate proposed changes to the regulation to the Commission.
“The current approach won’t work. We absolutely need a pause from these regulations coming in at the end of the year to give us a chance to implement more practical measures that don’t have onerous over-regulation.
“At a time of simplification this would fly in the face of simplification. We need further changes around the regulation before it comes into effect.”
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