The European Parliament this week voted to delay implementation of a deforestation regulation for a year, providing a reprieve for U.S. cattlemen. The rule will require imports of beef and other goods to include documentation showing they did not come from areas impacted by deforestation. In the case of beef, that includes geolocation data of where the cattle were raised. It was scheduled to go into effect Dec. 30, 2024. As U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) Vice President of Economic Analysis Erin Borror explains in this audio report, deforestation is not a concern for U.S. beef, yet U.S. producers are faced with burdensome and unnecessary paperwork, and the EU systems are still not ready for implementation. https://media-cdn.socastsrm.com/wordpress/wp-content/blogs.dir/2626/files/2024/12/usmef-borror-eu-deforestation.mp3 The one-year delay offers limited time to not only iron out systems for implementation, but to also push for key changes to the rule, including a “no risk” designation for trading partner countries where forests are not cleared for production.