The European Deforestation Regulation and the Impact on Southern Agriculture

By Rusty Rumley

The European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) has been postponed once again for another calendar year, but effects of the regulation are already being seen with Southern agricultural and timber lands. Forestland owners in the south are being told they may need to sign an attestation stating they will not convert their timberland to pasture or row crop production after timber is harvested. Failure to sign the attestation may bar a landowner from selling their timber if that product could end up in the European Union (EU). Because many larger timber and paper companies do business with the EU, this regulation could greatly limit the number of potential timber buyers in a geographical area or eliminate them entirely.

The EUDR is a regulation passed by the EU back in May 2023. The stated goal of the regulation is to reduce the EU’s impact on global deforestation and degradation by prohibiting the importation into the EU of certain products produced on land deforested or degraded after Dec. 31, 2023.