European parliament approves one-year delay to the EU anti-deforestation law

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Parliament voted on Thursday for a 12-month delay to the implementation of a law banning the import of commodities linked to deforestation, and adopted a series of amendments to weaken the law itself.

Brussels announced plans last month to delay the law’s implementation by a year, until Dec. 2025, after intense opposition from trade partners including the U.S., Brazil and Malaysia.

(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop and Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)