European Commission Excludes Leather From Anti-Deforestation Law

The European Commission announced on May 4, 2026, a simplification review of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which requires traders to prove that commodities like beef, soy, and coffee do not originate from deforested land. The Commission stripped approximately 75 percent of the regulation's due diligence requirements and excluded leather, hides, and skins from its scope, arguing that leather production does not incentivize the cattle farming responsible for forest destruction.

These changes follow an inadequate initial impact assessment regarding costs to farmers and technical failures after the volume of annual due diligence statements jumped from 100 million to one billion. The Commonwealth Secretariat estimated that African farmers could lose $11 billion in export revenues under the original rules. While the Commission rejected calls from the United States and several EU member states for further implementation delays or broad exemptions for low-deforestation jurisdictions, it introduced technical simplifications for packaging and waste materials.

Environmental and human rights organizations, including the World Wildlife Fund and Human Rights Watch, condemned the leather exemption as a loophole. They argue that cattle ranching is a primary driver of deforestation and that the leather supply chain is linked to human rights abuses. The Commission confirmed that reporting requirements will begin on December 30, 2026, for large and medium companies and timber sector enterprises, and on June 30, 2027, for other small enterprises.