European Commission caves to industry lobby and greenlights continued EU imports of deforestation leather — EIA
Treated cow hides hang from a conveyer belt in a leather factory

European Commission caves to industry lobby and greenlights continued EU imports of deforestation leather

EIA welcomes the European Commission’s decision not to reopen the landmark EU Deforestation Regulation. After two years of delays, the focus now needs to be on implementation and regulatory predictability, as called for by some of the world’s largest food companies. With EU commodity consumption continuing to be a major driver of deforestation, the world’s forests and the Indigenous and local communities who depend on them cannot afford to wait any longer. The EU must move forward and direct the necessary resources towards realizing the EUDR’s objective of removing deforestation, illegality and associated human rights abuses from its commodity supply chains.

EIA is disappointed, however, by  the Commission’s proposal, in a draft Delegated Act published today, to arbitrarily remove cowhides from the scope of the EUDR. This decision runs contrary to scientific evidence and was made in the face of intense pressure and misleading claims by leather industry lobbyists, with the loudest voices coming from the deforestation-exposed Italian leather industry and its supporters, and despite calls from civil society groups and investors. 

If allowed to stand, this exemption for leather would seriously undermine the integrity and impact of the EUDR. By the European Commission’s own analysis, leather supply chains represent one of the strongest links between the EU market and deforestation, primarily due to cattle-driven deforestation – most of it illegal – in the Amazon region. In recent years, investigations by EIA and many other NGOs (1) and media outlets have documented how hides from cattle raised on illegally deforested land in protected areas and Indigenous territories in Brazil and Paraguay enter EU supply chains. Labor conditions are also a major issue in the Brazilian cattle sector – Brazilian federal prosecutors recently announced a lawsuit against the country’s largest meat and leather producer, JBS, for allowing slave-like labor conditions in its supply chains in the Amazon region. Italy is uniquely exposed to deforestation and crime in its leather supply chains, accounting for roughly 83% of EU imports of hides from Brazil and 97% from Paraguay in 2025 (2).

Excluding leather from the EUDR would greenlight continued EU imports of hides produced through deforestation and illegal ranching and result in an incoherent policy: the hide of an animal raised on deforested land would be allowed into the EU market, but the meat, offal, liver, and even the tongue of the same animal would be prohibited. EIA urges the Commission to reverse course and maintain leather within the scope of the EUDR, and calls on responsible fashion, automotive and furniture sector companies to weigh in and oppose the removal of leather during the upcoming four week public consultation period on the proposed Delegated Act.

Notes

  1. Recent examples include: In Brazil: Earthsight, “The hidden price of luxury: what Europe’s designer handbags are costing the Amazon rainforest,” June 24, 2025, https://www.earthsight.org.uk/news/hidden-price-luxury (accessed March 18, 2026); Environmental Investigation Agency, “Deforestation in the Driver’s Seat,” December 17, 2022, https://eia.org/report/deforestation-drivers-seat/ (accessed March 18, 2026); Global Witness, “Cash Cow: How beef giant JBS’s links to Amazon deforestation and human rights abuses are aided by UK, US and EU financiers, importers and supermarkets,” June 23, 2022, https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/cash-cow/ (accessed March 19, 2026); Human Rights Watch, “Tainted: JBS and the EU’s Exposure to Human Rights Violations and Illegal Deforestation in Pará, Brazil,” October 15, 2025, https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/10/15/tainted/jbs-and-the-eus-exposure-to-human-rights-violations-and-illegal (accessed March 18, 2026); Rainforest Foundation Norway, “Hide on the Highway: Tracing Leather from Brazil to Europe under the EU Deforestation Regulation,” May 2024, https://aidenvironment.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Hide-on-the-Highway-2.pdf; Climate Rights International, “Before It’s Too Late: Curbing Cattle-Driven Deforestation and Rights Abuses in Brazil,” October 2025, https://cri.org/brazil-cattle-ranching-forced-labor-driving-deforestation-ahead-cop30/ (accessed March 27, 2026); in Paraguay: Earthsight, “Grand Theft Chaco: Luxury cars made with leather from the stolen lands of an uncontacted tribe,” 2020,  https://www.earthsight.org.uk/grandtheftchaco-en (accessed March 18, 2026)
  2. Based on import weight data published by the European Commission (accessed May 1, 2026): https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/statistics