Latest news with #EUregulations
RNZ News
20 hours ago
- Business
- RNZ News
'I'm so very sorry this cost has been put upon you', minister tells beef exporters
NZ beef exporters will need to prove to the EU that their products have not come from land that was recently deforested. Photo:/File via CNN Newsource The agriculture minister has apologised to New Zealand's top beef exporters for extra costs they will likely face due to new anti-deforestation rules for European Union imports. Those sending agricultural products - like beef, leather or logs in New Zealand's case - will have to prove that their products have not come from land that was recently deforested . Despite fierce opposition from New Zealand industry groups and government officials, the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) appeared to be going ahead. From the end of the year, all exporters to the EU will be required to prove land used for forests has not been cut down for animals to graze on since 2020. The regulation was amended to exclude sheep products in 2022 and its implementation was delayed last year . But the beef, meat and wood processing sectors were preparing for the new incoming requirements . It was announced this week that the Meat Industry Association, Beef and Lamb New Zealand and an analytics firm were developing aerial and satellite-generated farm maps, in addition to compiling the movement of livestock. The New Zealand Deforestation Map initiative was to help the sector prepare the documents and data needed with each shipment of their products going to the EU from 31 December. The regulation was expected to affect $213 million in beef and leather exports to the EU and $100m of New Zealand wood products. Agricultural Minister Todd McClay. Photo: Neil Mackenzie Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Trade and Investment Todd McClay told the red meat sector conference in Ōtautahi/Christchurch on Tuesday that companies should get prepared for the incoming new rules. Agriculture Minister Todd McClay speaking at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Christchurch on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ/Monique Steele "Well done for preparing. I'm so very sorry this cost has been put upon you, because in my view it is unnecessary," he said. "Since we came to government, I have consistently said to the European Union we have standards, the equivalent to yours if not higher, so you should not be putting costs upon every single producer in New Zealand, and we have been looking for ways to find exemptions or to changes, or to get the cost down." McClay wrote to the European Commission last year, and said he met the European Commissioner in Brussels last month who suggested other countries were also trying for exemptions, like France. "You'd figure when the EU member states don't like something, perhaps there's a change coming," he said. But he said New Zealand already had native forest protection rules that resulted in penalties or prosecutions for offending. "They have nothing to worry about in New Zealand. You're not allowed to deforest native forests in New Zealand. "Ultimately I as the government can give an absolute assurance that it doesn't happen because we prosecute, we go and find these things." He said it will likely impose "unreasonable" costs on producers, making it a barrier to trade, even while there was a free trade agreement with the EU now in force . "So you need to keep preparing in case they don't get there, but we're gonna keep banging the table." Photo: Supplied / Hamish Best Industry analytics firm Prism Earth was a partnership between Silver Fern Farms and Lynker Analytics launched to meet the increased demand for carbon traceability, its website said. Prism Earth was now using satellite imagery, aerial photography, LiDAR and artificial intelligence to map farms and identify grazing areas, forests and track animals via the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) programme. Also speaking at the red meat industry event, managing director Matt Lythe said the challenge was to accurately understand the conversion of land and animal movements. "Every consignment will need to have a due diligence statement that essentially monitors every NAIT tag, every animal and its passage through the New Zealand landscape and the grazing process through all its dimensions, and whether it's past deforested land or not," he said. "There are some record-keeping requirements that need to be held in place for five years, so it's a reasonably onerous obligation on us all to achieve." Lythe said its modelling showed there were just under 14,000 hectares of beef production farmland to October 2024 where forests had been removed, and 1600 "affected NAIT" farms. "So headline number, just under 14,000 hectares have had forest removal," he told the conference. The main types of removal were pine rotation, followed by woodlots then shelterbelts. The modelling showed 32 hectares of indigenous forest were removed, affecting 24 farms. "I've highlighted the indigenous loss as really the key critical area that we're focusing on," he said. "Thirty-two hectares of indigenous forest in New Zealand has been removed that breaches that European rule." Owners of farms deemed to have been deforested would need to demonstrate to Prism that the removal of trees was not to convert land for agricultural use. Lythe said farmers could mitigate the risk of cattle crossing into deforested land through fencing or other controls, and demonstrate that the removal of trees was due to either animal welfare, erosion control, health and safety or conservation and biodiversity protection. The New Zealand Deforestation Map would be updated before December, and updated every year. The Meat Industry Association was then expected to engage with the wider sector. 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Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Germany's Merz Criticizes Plan to Make Car-Rental Firms Buy EVs
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized plans that newspaper Bild said the European Union is working on that would prohibit car-rental firms and large corporations from buying non-electric vehicles for their fleets from 2030. Under the deliberations, companies like Sixt SE and Europcar Mobility Group SA would only be allowed to purchase electric vehicles from that date, Bild reported on Sunday, citing EU sources it didn't identify.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
EU to Force Car-Rental Firms to Buy EVs Only From 2030: Bild
(Bloomberg) -- The European Commission is working on a plan to prohibit car-rental firms and large corporations from buying non-electric vehicles for their fleets from 2030, according to German newspaper Bild. Why the Federal Reserve's Building Renovation Costs $2.5 Billion The Dutch Intersection Is Coming to Save Your Life Milan Corruption Probe Casts Shadow Over Property Boom Mumbai Facelift Is Inspired by 200-Year-Old New York Blueprint How San Jose's Mayor Is Working to Build an AI Capital Under the deliberations, companies like Sixt SE and Europcar Mobility Group SA would only be allowed to purchase electric vehicles from that date, the publication said, citing European Union sources it didn't identify. The move would affect 60% of the new car business, if enacted, it cited one Brussels lawmaker as saying. The Commission plans to present the proposal, which would be a de facto acceleration of the EU's plan to phase out combustion engines, later in the summer before submitting it for parliamentary approval, the newspaper said. The EU confirmed to Bild that work is underway on new regulations, while declining to provide details. The EU currently plans to phase out combustion vehicle sales by 2035. A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border Thailand's Changing Cannabis Rules Leave Farmers in a Tough Spot How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy Godzilla Conquered Japan. Now Its Owner Plots a Global Takeover ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
EU warns of baby hazards, banned chemicals in goods sold on Shein and Temu
LONDON, July 20 — The European Union's justice commissioner has expressed deep concern over hazardous goods being sold on Chinese online platforms Shein and Temu. Michael McGrath said, 'I am shocked by it, and I think we have a duty to protect European consumers,' after reviewing items that violated EU safety laws, The Guardian reported. He warned that 12 million low-value parcels from non-EU sellers enter the bloc daily, overwhelming national consumer protection systems. McGrath is awaiting the results of a secret shopper operation to confirm suspicions that some Chinese retailers are bypassing EU regulations. One of the most alarming examples was a baby soother with loose beads and no airflow hole, creating a serious choking risk. Other dangerous products included children's raincoats with toxic chemicals, sunglasses lacking UV protection, and shorts with excessively long drawstrings. Cosmetics containing Lillal — a substance banned since 2022 due to risks to fertility and fetal development — were also found. The EU's Safety Gate system, which alerts member states to unsafe non-food items, recorded a record 4,137 alerts last year, over a third linked to cosmetics. McGrath said the rapid growth of these platforms also harms compliant European businesses facing unfair competition. 'The growth is extraordinary, and it has placed enormous pressure on the systems at member state level,' he said. Brussels is now considering removing the €150 (RM740) duty-free threshold and imposing handling fees on incoming parcels to help fund customs checks. McGrath said he may raise the issue at the EU-China summit on July 25 and will travel to China later this year to address the matter directly.
Al Arabiya
7 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
EU stalls probe into Elon Musk's X amid trade talks with US
The European Commission has stalled one of its investigations into Elon Musk's social media platform X for breaching its digital transparency rules while it seeks to conclude trade talks with the US, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The Commission will miss the deadline for finalizing its investigation into X, which was expected to be done before its summer recess, the report said, citing three officials familiar with the matter. A decision was likely to come after clarity emerged in the EU-US trade talks, the report said. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. The EU and X did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. EU tech regulators said last year that X breached EU online content rules under the Digital Services Act. Any firm found in breach of the act faces a fine worth up to 6 percent of its global turnover, and repeat offenders may be banned from operating in Europe altogether.
