As a continuation of this year's Forum on Facilitating the Implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) in Ukraine, a special roundtable was organised on 11 October 2024 by WWF-Ukraine, FAO, FSC Ukraine with the support of IPRSA. The event was aimed at developing a specific mechanism to support this area of state policy and finding relevant business solutions.
The roundtable covered three key sessions.
During the first session, ‘Harmonisation of the conceptual framework of the Ukrainian translation of the EUDR regarding key terms and requirements ’, the participants agreed on the importance of using a single progressive terminology in Ukrainian legislation, consistent with global approaches, including those of the European Union. This also includes terms related to the environment, legal, and forestry issues as a theoretical basis for administrative and business decisions to facilitate the implementation of EUDR.
"The biggest concern about the EUDR terminology is the term “naturally regenerated forest”, which partially covers all old-growth forests that are not currently protected in Ukraine. We believe that it is necessary to clearly define this concept in the context of EUDR adaptation in Ukraine, and to distinguish between ‘old-growth forests’ and ‘naturally regenerated forests’. In this way, we will distinguish between forests that can be exploited and those that should be protected. According to our estimates, this will increase the area of protected forests by several percent, but will not create critical problems for forestry and producers, and will ensure the preservation of important ecosystems and their ecosystem functions," says Mykhailo Bogomaz, Head of the Forests Department at WWF-Ukraine.
Participants of the discussion pointed out that it is important for public authorities to take into account the EUDR terminology in the process of harmonising national legislation with the EU. Stakeholder involvement in lawmaking processes should be a significant contribution to the consolidation of Ukrainian society on the path to Eurointegration.
Vasyl Masyuk, FAO's national expert, noted that Ukraine's forestry legislation needs to be strengthened: 'The current Forest Code in Ukraine is 60% the same as the decrees issued in 1918. Meanwhile, European forestry thought has evolved and developed a number of fundamental concepts that have no direct equivalents in Ukrainian forestry. For example, in Ukraine, the term ‘forest’ is not associated with a land plot, but in the EU, a forest is land and land ownership. Therefore, we have set ourselves the goal of drafting a new Forest Code by the end of 2025."
The discussions during the second session, 'Promoting the implementation of the EUDR: forest policy tools and key business solutions ’, were held through the perspective of comprehensive obligations of a mandatory and advisory nature that Ukraine has as a member of the international community to prevent deforestation and forest degradation and ensure responsible forest management. The meeting participants agreed that the EUDR, as a European policy tool, needs to be integrated into the national forest policy based on the relevant goals, objectives and instruments.
The analysis of the existing forest policy documents related to supply chain traceability showed that Ukraine has a competitive position in terms of using both individual technical solutions and voluntary forest certification schemes as independent evidence of minimising risks on the way of products from producer to consumer.
"We have good technical solutions to meet the traceability requirements starting from a concrete plot with its coordinates. Currently, we are working on upgrading these technical solutions with regulations to implement them in our forest management system ,” said Ihor Budzinsky, Head of the Forestry and Forest Restoration Department of the State Forestry Agency.
The participants agreed that the implementation of EUDR should be enabled by a more diverse system of forest policy instruments, both at the level of government agencies and individual business decisions. In particular, it is about
- Improvement of the state's tools: legal and regulatory framework; financial and economic support; compliance with environmental and social commitments; raising public awareness and developing an eco-friendly culture;
- enrichment of business decision-making tools, namely, the use of blockchain technology, data protection systems, their security and information support, implementation of internal audit and due diligence systems.
The importance of forming a comprehensive mechanism to facilitate the implementation of EUDR and its integration into the European timber supply chain traceability system is emphasized.
"The session shows that forest certification is an important forest policy tool to facilitate the implementation of EUDR. FSC already has solutions that can be used to fulfill the legal, sustainability-related and due diligence obligations under the EUDR requirements. We are ready to facilitate further integration of these solutions with the state support strategy and business solutions of the country's forestry sector,” emphasized Pavlo Kravets, Director of FSC Ukraine.
At the third session, the participants discussed proposals on Ukraine's action plan to prepare for the implementation of EUDR. The recommendations presented by the EUDR working group under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources on measures to be taken by Ukraine to reduce the risk of deforestation and forest degradation were reasonable. Along with the announced draft law on trading goods that can contribute to deforestation and forest degradation, such recommendations should be widely discussed in society.
Yulia Plyska, Head of GR Department at the SFE “Forests of Ukraine”, pointed out that it is important to define the format of the future law: "It should be clearer whether we are talking about a framework of the law, when specific requirements and norms are regulated by bylaws, or whether it is planned to develop a detailed draft law on the implementation of EUDR. In turn, the SFE “Forests of Ukraine” is ready to join this work, in particular, we believe that it would be good to take into account the experience gained after testing the geolocation systems developed by the EU to confirm the geographical coordinates of timber harvesting sites, which are part of the preparation for the implementation of EUDR, and, in fact, testing which will soon be launched in Ukraine."
The participants came to the conclusion that support for regulatory, organizational and other activities at the level of government authorities, key business structures and other stakeholders to facilitate the implementation of EUDR in Ukraine should be aimed at closer coordination of their actions and harmonization of positions.
“We heard the positions of various stakeholders at this meeting. We are planning to hold public discussions of the experts' work to hear all opinions at the stage of drafting the law. It is important that representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy joined the event and expressed their position and support for efforts to prevent the production of products that could lead to deforestation, “ Anatolii Borsuk, Chief Specialist of the Department of Balanced Environmental Management of the Ministry of Ecology of Ukraine, pointed out.
Despite the fact that the EU Commission has recently proposed to the European Parliament and the European Council to postpone the entry into force of the Regulation, the issue of its adaptation remains relevant for Ukraine. The working meeting demonstrated significant progress in understanding the need to have a holistic vision of harmonizing national legislation with the European one, developing forest policy tools and business solutions, and integrating supply chain traceability systems.
The event was an important step towards building a partnership among a wide range of stakeholders to prevent deforestation and forest degradation in Ukraine.
Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 2023 on granting access to the single market in the European Union and to exports from the European Union of certain goods and products relating to deforestation and forest degradation, better known as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) was published in June 2023.
Based on the expected postponement of the Regulation's entry into force, its main articles will apply from December 30, 2025. According to the EUDR, any operator or trader placing on the EU market or exporting products such as soybeans, beef, palm oil, timber, cocoa, coffee and rubber must be able to demonstrate that these products do not originate from land that has been deforested or whose production has contributed to forest degradation.