In around six months, the EUDR will come into force. While certain elements of the regulation have become clearer, industry is still scrambling to comply.
Many smaller companies have struggled to come to terms with the complexity and stringency of the legislation, which requires in-depth, intimate knowledge of the supply chain.
The European Commission has now given a grant of €1m to Fairtrade International, to fund a new project with the aim of helping smaller companies comply.
The 36-month project, entitled ’Life Fairthrive: Empowering Businesses to Thrive Fairly Under the EUDR,’ will target micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) within EU member states, aiming to train them for full compliance with the regulation.
Fairtrade International is working with five national offices - Fairtrade Germany, Belgium, Italy and Finland, and Max Havelaar France.
Why is Fairtrade helping small businesses with EUDR compliance?
While large companies have in-house capacity, explains Fairtrade’s Veronica Perez, the grant’s project manager, many small companies lack these resources and are struggling to meet the demands of the regulation.
“MSMEs, even those based in Europe, have risks. It’s costly for them to comply with the EUDR.” Many companies have a very small staff, between five and ten people. Some “just don’t have the capacity” for compliance without help.
A lot of MSMEs source from smallholder farmers. There is a risk, explains Perez, that due to the regulation, these companies may instead move to sourcing from larger-scale farmers, who have geolocation data and traceability systems in place. This is something that Fairtrade wants to avoid.
Fairtrade support for EUDR compliance
Fairtrade will help MSMEs with targeted training, as well as knowledge sharing and the implementation of the tools required for compliance.
For example, it aims to enhance knowledge of the EUDR through workshops and webinars. It hopes that by month 36 of the programme, at least 1,000 SMEs from 12 EU member states will have participated in 36 of these. While the training materials will be developed in English, Fairtrade hopes to translate them into nine languages from EU member states.
Training will include simplifying the EUDR compliance into actionable steps and using practical case studies.
It also aims to train up companies in the use of traceability and compliance tools, hoping to have instructed 200 SMEs in their use by month 18.
Finally, it aims to further disseminate the tools and knowledge developed to other companies.
Will Fairtrade share tools with other sectors?
When the funding proposal was written, explains Perez, it was focused on cocoa and coffee, as these are the Fairtrade-certified commodities that the EUDR focuses on.
However, the EU Commission felt that it was important for Fairtrade to share the tools developed through the project with producers of other EUDR-relevant commodities, such as beef and soy.
