US and Canadian forestry industry sought to weaken EU deforestation rules — Mongabay
Industry associations from the United States and Canada sought to persuade the European Union to ease new requirements for timber and paper products under the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). As Mongabay reports, the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has spent nearly $11 million on lobbying since 2023, including on this regulation.
The new rules, which are due to take effect in December, require companies selling timber, paper and certain other goods in the EU to prove that their products are not linked to deforestation or forest degradation. For timber and pulp, the rules also provide for traceability to a specific plot of land and the submission of GPS coordinates for harvesting sites.
Lobbying and appeals by politicians
In 2026, AF&PA has already spent $1.3 million on lobbying. Its lobbyists discussed the EUDR with members of the US Congress and officials from the Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service, the State Department, the Department of Commerce and the Office of the US Trade Representative.
Republican senators John Boozman and Tom Cotton, as well as Congressman Austin Scott, publicly criticized the regulation. In March 2025, they and other members of Congress wrote to European commissioners, expressing concern about a possible deterioration in trade relations and calling for the requirements to be eased. Boozman, Cotton and Scott received funding from AF&PA's political committee, which has distributed $272,041.63 in campaign contributions since 2025.
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According to the US Department of Agriculture, the United States exported $879.7 million worth of forest products to the EU in 2025.
Dispute over traceability
AF&PA, the Canadian Forest Products Association of Canada, and industry organizations from Australia, Japan and New Zealand called for reduced oversight of supplies from countries with a low risk of deforestation. Industry groups also opposed the requirement to provide precise geolocation of timber origin, citing technical and logistical difficulties.
Member of the European Parliament Delara Burkhardt, one of the lead EUDR negotiators for the Socialists and Democrats group, said that the US ambassador to the EU and US government officials also worked in Brussels to weaken the regulation. According to her, after failing to create a “no-risk” category, industry groups proposed listing only “the United States” or “Canada” as the place of origin instead of a specific plot.
In July, the European Commission published updated EUDR rules as part of regulatory simplification, but did not provide for exemptions and retained requirements for traceability and consideration of forest degradation.
