Over the weekend the UK Government updated on its legislative progress to remove from supply chains commodities produced on land illegally occupied or used. Secondary legislation will be laid as soon as parliamentary time allows but the key provisions are:
- Regulating 4 critical forest-risk commodities initially: soy, palm oil, cocoa and relevant cattle products (excluding dairy)
- Regulating all relevant organisations with a global annual turnover of over £50 million
- Allowing exemptions for organisations that use 500 tonnes or less of each regulated commodity in the reporting period
- Giving industry organisations a grace period to prepare for regulation
The regulator will work in close partnership with other agencies and Devolved Administrations, with the power to impose fines on organisations found to be in breach of the regulation.
In addition, BRC in partnership with IBM Consulting has launched a new guide to help retailers ensure that their supply chains are illegal deforestation free.
The new guide examines:
- The cost of deforestation to people, the planet and business.
- Insight into the BRC’s perspective on the current and emerging deforestation regulations and frameworks.
- A snapshot of the common challenges faced by BRC retail members when looking to quantify & mitigate the risk of deforestation within their extended supply chains.
- The key stages of the journey towards deforestation-free goods, along with some transformation success factors for retailers to consider.
- Some of the measures retailers can take to reduce or reverse the impacts of deforestation.