BERLIN/BRUSSELS (Sept 12): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he’s asked the European Union (EU) to suspend a new regulation designed to reduce deforestation to allow objections raised about the burden on the print sector to be addressed.

Speaking Thursday at a BDZV newspaper lobby congress in Berlin, Scholz said he shared the concerns of publishers about the regulation, known as EUDR, and its potential impact on print products when it’s implemented at the end of this year. The German leader’s comments add to criticism of the law voiced by countries like Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia, who argue that it will have a negative impact across global commodities markets.

“To be clear: the regulation must be practicable,” Scholz said, adding that he had personally asked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a former German defence minister, to put the EUDR on hold until issues raised by the BDZV have been clarified.

In a statement in March, the BDZV said it and other lobby groups had written to the German government and the commission urging them to “mitigate the risks, sanctions and burdens for companies posed by the regulation”.

In its current form, the EUDR represents “not only a major threat to the production of printed products for the general public, but also to press products, election documents, technical documentation, labels and packaging, which are part of critical infrastructure”, according to the statement.

Aimed at tackling climate change and halting biodiversity loss, the EUDR potentially has far-reaching consequences for more than US$110 billion (RM476.79 billion) of trade annually, economies across six continents and suppliers forced to adapt to Europe’s drive to be greener.

Brazil has also urged the EU to delay implementing the law.

In a letter to EU officials, seen by Bloomberg, it said the rules cover more than 30% of its exports to the bloc.

“The EUDR was designed without a proper understanding of the production and export processes of different products and of the realities on the ground in each country,” Mauro Vieira, Brazil’s minister for foreign affairs, and Carlos Favaro, minister for agriculture, wrote to EU commissioners, including Maros Sefcovic, the bloc’s Green Deal chief. “We consider that unilateral, coercive, and punitive measures erode trust.”

A spokesman for the EU confirmed the receipt of the Brazilian letter.

Scholz’s comments and Brazil’s call for a delay add to pressure on the EU to postpone the rules, which aim to tackle the deforestation caused by the expansion of commodities industries such as beef, timber, soy and coffee.

The likes of Indonesia and Malaysia have also criticised the law, which they say would hit smallholder farmers the hardest. Several EU countries and lawmakers have also slammed the law for penalising the agricultural sector.

The Financial Times earlier reported the letter from Brazil.

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