The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers' Association (ETRMA) has voiced concern over a European Commission's plan to delay the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) by another year. Tire & rubber industry association urges due diligence obligations to end with the "first placer" on the EU market.

The commission proposed postponing the EUDR implementation to December 2026, due to concerns that its IT system was not ready for the process.

The IT system, it said, "must be able to handle all the transactions for products covered by the EUDR and initiated by economic operators, both upstream and downstream, inside and outside the EU".

The European institution stated that it has been deploying the IT system in collaboration with stakeholders over the past year.

"New projections on the number of expected operations and interactions led to a substantial upward reassessment of the projected load on the IT system", the Commission added.

The industry group urged that any extra time should be used to introduce "real simplification" to the legislation.

It called for due diligence obligations to end with the "first placer" on the EU market and remain valid for the entire commercial life of the product, "without involving downstream operators in unnecessary burdens".

Originally scheduled to apply from 30 Dec 2024, the EUDR aims to ensure that certain commodities and derived products, including natural rubber, placed on the EU market are not linked to deforestation