The Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated the National Task Force (NTF) on the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, stated this while inaugurating the committee on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, in Abuja.
The minister said this was aimed at Nigeria’s compliance with EUDR on free deforestation and free agricultural products.
He said that deforestation and forest degradation were among the main drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Kyari, who is the chairman of the Taskforce, said that the deforestation regulation by the EU entered into force on June 29, 2023, and was given an 18-month implementation period of December 2024.
“According to the EU, the commodities that present the most deforestation risk are timber, soya, palm oil, coffee, cocoa and cattle as well as selected derived products such as chocolate, leather, tires and furniture.
“The EU based on the above emphasised that any company intending to place these commodities in the EU market, or export from EU will be subjected to a set of mandatory due diligence rules.
“Only deforestation-free products not subject to deforestation or forest degradation after Dec.31, 2020 and legal products, according to domestic laws of the country of origin will be allowed into the EU market,” he said.
He said the EU was not only a major trade partner but also the loss of the market due to non-compliance with EUDR presented a great threat to the cocoa, rubber, and soya and timber value chains.
The minister said they constitute 80 per cent, 7 per cent, 7 percent and 5 respectively of the 523 million Euro export trade.
“Fellow NTF members, we have a great task ahead and I believe our cooperation and joint efforts will bring about the desired central national database for traceability/certification.
“Also, forest mapping, legality and due diligence necessary to guarantee evidence of free deforestation and free agricultural products,” he said.
He said that Ghana, one of the world’s largest exporters of cocoa, had already set the ball rolling by mapping 1.2 million farms so far, and could start tracking cocoa beans from farms to ships in November.
“Nigeria cannot be lagging behind; we must therefore make efforts to ensure compliance even as we are determined to exploit other markets outside Europe,” he said.
Kyari underscored the collective efforts needed to meet the EUDR standard.
“As members of the NTF on EUDR, we have an extremely urgent important duty ahead, therefore we can no longer afford to be working in silos,” he said.
He called for unity among all stakeholders including government and private sectors to achieve the set targets.
By Doris Esa
