PiS MEP Anna Zalewska submitted a question to the European Commission regarding the upcoming effective date of the regulation on deforestation, which is causing serious concern among agricultural communities in Poland due to its legal ambiguity.
Anna Zalewska reported that she has been receiving alarming reports from agricultural communities in Poland—particularly from cattle breeders and dairy farmers—regarding a serious lack of preparedness for implementing the new regulation at both the national and European levels. “Stakeholders are seriously concerned about the high level of legal uncertainty, especially regarding the operation of the penalty system set forth in Article 35 of the regulation and the mandatory geolocation system for plots of land, as defined in Articles 2 and 9 of the regulation,” she noted. She explained that this situation risks creating legal chaos and imposing penalties on agricultural land owners, breeders, and producers for violations resulting from the ambiguity of the regulations.
In light of the above, the Polish politician asked whether the European Commission supports the calls from a broad range of European agricultural organizations to postpone the entry into force of the regulation, for example, for a period of 6 months.
“What measures will the European Commission take to prevent penalties from being imposed on producers for unintentional violations of the regulations, due to the unclear interpretation of the new administrative procedures—particularly the reporting requirements outlined in Article 9 and the due diligence requirements outlined in Article 12?” asked the PiS MEP.
Anna Zalewska also wanted to know whether the European Commission has an updated impact assessment of the regulation’s effect on the competitive position of European and Polish producers of raw materials and downstream industries, as well as on the security of supply of goods and products covered by the regulation.
