Answer given by Mr Sinkevičius on behalf of the European Commission
23.5.2022
The traceability requirements can be met through the use of widely available and free-to-use digital tools, and allow to verify whether a product or commodity is compliant.
Commercially sensitive information, such as the identity or location of operators’ suppliers, is only to be shared with authorities in EU Member States for enforcement purposes. It is not to be disclosed publicly. Only anonymised data of the Information System will be made publicly available, as provided in Article 31.5 of the proposal[1].
For products traded in bulk, this means that a company needs to ensure that all plots of land involved in a particular shipment are identified and that the commodities are not mixed at any step of the process with commodities of unknown origin. The same would apply for wood and furniture.
This information is to be treated digitally via due diligence statements and the EU Information System. The goal is to provide authorities in the Member States with necessary information to monitor the implementation of the regulation.
Geolocation is already used by part of the industry and certification organisations. The regulation proposal allows for operators to use certification systems, provided that the information supplied by these systems meets the requirements set out in Article 9. The use of certification, however, does not release companies from their legal responsibility.
This approach is supported by the findings of the Fitness Check of the EU Timber Regulation and the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation[2], as well as a specific study on certification and verification schemes in the forest sector and for wood-based products[3].
- [1] Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the making available on the Union market as well as export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation and repealing Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, COM/2021/706 final.
- [2] https://ec.europa.eu/environment/publications/proposal-regulation-deforestation-free-products_en
- [3] https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/afa5e0df-fb19-11eb-b520-01aa75ed71a1/language-en