The European Commission has agreed to delay tough rules on deforestation which could have hurt meat exports worth $200 million

New Zealand meat exporters have won a 12-month reprieve from onerous deforestation rules which were due to come into effect in December.

The Meat Industry Association (MIA) and Beef + Lamb New Zealand (B+LNZ) are welcoming the announcement, but say the rules as a whole need to be reversed, not delayed. 

The sector here had been pushing for a postponement of two years, pending a review of the proposed system.   

"The announcement shows that the haste with which this regulation was designed and implemented was going to disrupt global supply chains and threaten $200 million worth of New Zealand exports," the two groups say. 

The rules cover a range of products sold to the European Union (EU), such as palm oil, soy, coffee, and cocoa as well as beef. 

They say these products are not supposed to be grown on deforested land or else fines could be levied of up to 4% of a company’s turnover in any EU member state.   

New Zealand initially appeared to be safe, because the cutoff date was the year 2020, and most deforestation in New Zealand happened in the 19th century.  In recent years there has been net afforestaton in this country.

But stringent authentication rules would have put huge costs onto New Zealand beef exporters and could have made some sales impractical.  

MIA chairman Nathan Guy says while the red meat sector opposes global deforestation, the proposed EU rules were poorly designed, poorly drafted, and were not fit for purpose.

 “Instead of incentivising the trade of deforestation-free products, the proposal would see countries with extremely low instances of deforestation, like New Zealand, treated the same as countries where there is a high-risk of this occurring," he says.

But he notes the EU decision is just a delay, not a reversal of the legislation, and meat groups will continue to work with New Zealand's Trade Minister Todd McClay and his officials to advocate for a more pragmatic and sensible solution.

“New Zealand beef exporters’ sustainability credentials need to be formally recognised and treated differently to competitors with deforestation issues.”

B+LNZ Chair Kate Acland supports this view.

“Sheep and beef farms contain approximately 25% of the total native vegetation (tussock, native bush, and scrubland) in New Zealand, comprising 2.8 million hectares.," she says.  

“This should be recognised by New Zealand’s trading partners, particularly those we have a Free Trade Agreement with."

Acland echoes the view that New Zealand has net afforestation, not deforestation, so the EU rules are inappropriate.

“Maintaining market access settings for New Zealand’s beef is critical with approximately 60% of export revenues flowing through to farmers.”

The latest battle echoes an earlier one, in which New Zealand successfully excluded sheep meat from the same proposed rules. 

Meanwhile the battle against the  proposed rules continues, despite the delay.