A leaked draft document suggests the European Commission will remove leather from the EU Deforestation Regulation, despite internal findings linking it to deforestation.The commission cites “supply chain considerations and load on the information system” as justifications for exempting leather from the list of deforestation-risk commodities.The adoption of a proposed delegated act is expected in the “next weeks,” according to the European Commission; it’s still subject to scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council of the European Union, which would have two months to object or change the proposal.Environmental groups believe the move reflects strong industry lobbying and contradicts evidence linking cattle and leather supply chains to forest loss.
The European Commission is taking further steps to formally exempt the global leather trade from its landmark EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), according to a leaked draft obtained by news outlet Euractiv.
The revelation comes just one month after a review of internal documents, first reported by Mongabay, exposed a paradox at the heart of the commission: its own consultants explicitly tied leather to widespread forest destruction, yet commissioners are choosing to ignore the data.
