On 5 April 2023, the Department of European Affairs, hosted an online meeting with representatives from the EU Directorate-General for the Environment (DG ENV) to exchanged views on the draft EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products and make necessary preparation accordingly, as the law is expected to have an impact on a range of Thai agricultural exports, in particular rubber and its derivatives which are high-value Thai export products to the EU.

Thai side participants included representatives from the Department of European Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Commerce, Royal Thai Embassy in Brussels, and the Rubber Authority of Thailand. EU side participants consisted of Ms. Helge Elisabeth Zeitler, Deputy Head of Unit, Planetary Common Goods, Universal Values & Environmental Security, DG ENV, and the EU Delegation to Thailand.

The meeting focused on promoting concrete cooperation to assist the Thai private sector, especially smallholder farmers, in making necessary preparations for the new EU Regulation. This cooperation includes undertaking an impact study of the Regulation on Thailand and organizing workshops to provide technical assistance to smallholder farmers for the Regulation’s entry into application by the end of 2024.

Under the EU Regulation on Deforestation-Free Products, EU importers of 7 commodities linked to deforestation (e.g., wood, cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, soya and rubber) will be required to submit due diligence statements with a preliminary screening confirming that their imports comply with the laws of the country of origin and are deforestation-free.