A group of EU member states has called for "substantial simplification" of the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which is due to come into force on 30 Dec.

In an item for a 23 May meeting of the EU agriculture and fisheries council, Luxembourg and Austria called on the EU to significantly reduce the administrative burden linked to the regulation.

The proposal was also backed by Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia.

The request follows previous moves by the European Commission (EC) to simplify EUDR implementation (ERJ report) in April and 12 month delay to the start date - originally scheduled for 30 Dec 2024.

"The requirements imposed on farmers and foresters remain high, if not impossible to implement", the proposal from Austria and Luxembourg stated.

Such obligations, it went on to say, are "disproportionate to the regulation's aim of preventing deforestation where it actually occurs".

The proposal suggested several several simplification measures, including the designation of countries or regions as having "negligible risk of deforestation".

In these areas, operators would no longer need to record the geolocation of agricultural or forest land, the document explained.

Furthermore, national authorities would not be required to inspect products from such zones - provided national laws and practices effectively control deforestation and forest degradation.

The proposal also included the option to introduce a "regulated compensation mechanism" in no risk countries, applicable only outside primary or protected forests of high biodiversity value.

In such cases, tree felling could be offset by certified reforestation on equivalent land within the same country: thereby maintaining or increasing the total forested area.

Additional recommendations included allowing "risk based inspections" without a fixed minimum rate, and limiting reporting and documentation requirements to a "basic CAP area declaration".

The CAP area declaration refers to a land use declaration made by farmers.

The signatory countries also called for "strict controls on imported products to minimize the risk of fraud."

They urged the EC to include the deforestation regulation in its wider simplification plans, and called for a further postponement of the EUDR's application pending new proposals.