A plan by the European Union to stop member countries from importing beef products from deforestation concerns Australian beef producers who feel the guideline is open to misinterpretation.
From 2025, EU companies will be prevented from importing beef products from farms where deforestation has occurred in the past four years. The aim is to remove from the supply chain beef and other agricultural products sold in Europe so consumers are not contributing to the destruction of global forests.
Australia is one of the world’s largest exporters of beef, renowned for its grass-fed cattle and is highly regarded in the EU for its quality and sustainability, and Australian producers command premium prices in the EU market.
The market is guaranteed but relatively small due to low volume import quotas and high tariffs. The region primarily sources from Brazil, Argentina, and the United States.
While Australian suppliers shouldn’t be affected, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has written to the EU Commissioner for the Environment to delay the decision and provide clarity.
“There is understandably very real concern about what that will mean for Australian businesses that are either already exporting to Europe, or want to have the opportunity to do so in the future,” Mr. Watt told the audience at a beef week event in Rockhampton on May 7.
Putting into practice the EU’s calls for greater sustainability are led in Australia by the Sustainability Steering Group (SSG) which the Red Meat Advisory Council appoints under the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework. The group aims to make Australia’s agricultural sector carbon-neutral by 2030.
In its annual update, the SSG’s chair Mark Davie queried the EU’s interpretation of deforestation.
“These requirements, which include definitions of forest height and canopy, do not relate to bioregions and they ignore extensive environmental research undertaken in an Australian context,” Mr. Davie said.
Australia is already well advanced in its sustainability targets, and Senator Watt said developing and implementing the framework is “incredibly important and will only continue to be more so.”
“I think we can now say, gladly, that there is broad alignment between the goals that the industry has set for itself and where the government is heading,” he added.
The SSG’s annual update found via a self-reported survey of farmers that 55 percent of farmland used for cattle farming was managed for biodiversity outcomes (up from 43.7 percent last year) which includes enhanced vegetation and pest management, fencing of riparian areas and commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions.
“Fifty-two percent of the nation and 50,000 businesses are actively engaged in their environment, managing that directly on the ground,” Mr. Davie said.
But he did concede “One of our biggest challenges is we don’t yet have the data and the indicators and the measurement techniques available to capture across our landscape.”
“We want consumers and customers to understand how engaged industry is in trying to become more sustainable in ways to better manage our landscape,” he told AAP.
Enhanced Compliance for Producers is Now Required
From Dec. 30, 2024, suppliers of agricultural products will need to meet compliance with the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) which requires exhaustive due diligence to be performed on supply chains. The measures are geared towards reducing the EU’s impact on biodiversity, and forest degradation and a commitment to lower greenhouse emissions.
Suppliers will now have to prove that their products originate from a sustainable enterprise.
One of the leading causes of deforestation is the conversion of forested land for agricultural use, particularly for large-scale commercial agriculture such as palm oil, soybeans, and cattle meat production. Legal and illegal logging for timber and wood products is another major driver and selective logging can lead to forest degradation.
Deforestation leads to biodiversity loss by destroying habitats for countless species unable to survive in fragmented or degraded habitats. Forests play a crucial role in regulating the Earth’s climate by absorbing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere.
Forests provide essential ecosystem services, such as water purification, soil stabilisation, and flood control while deforestation can disrupt these services.
