Forest owners urge Czech PM to push for revision of EU deforestation rules

Representatives of Czech forest owners, timber processors, and municipalities have called on Prime Minister Petr Fiala (Civic Democratic Party) to seek changes to the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). In a letter, they argued that the regulation is unnecessary in Czechia, where deforestation is not a risk, and would impose excessive bureaucracy. They propose creating a category of “zero-risk countries” to ease obligations for producers in states like Czechia. The EUDR requires companies to prove that products such as cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, timber, or rubber are not linked to deforestation before entering the EU market.