Is the docility that Argentina shows to be able to export “deforestation-free” meat and soy to Europe correct?

The European Union's new standard, EUDR 2023/1115, set to take effect in five months, aims to prevent agroindustrial products from the EU territory after December 31, 2020, in areas deforested. This standard applies to beef, soy, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, wood, charcoal, and rubber, and their derived products, requiring compulsory certification. However, Argentine producer Santiago del Solar expresses skepticism, believing that the EU's deadline is unrealistic and that Argentina can negotiate. Del Solar suggests a more reasonable approach by certifying only the land that needs to be certified, rather than all 16 million hectares of soybeans, and by leveraging Argentina's existing RENSPA certification system. He also emphasizes the importance of aligning efforts with other exporters facing similar challenges to present a unified front to the EU.

In exactly five months and 21 days, the EUDR 2023/1115 standard, which was announced at the end of last year and aims to prevent agroindustrial products from entering the territory of the European Union from areas that have been deforested after December 31, 2020 , will enter into force. And despite the shock that this entails, because all exports of beef, soy, palm oil, coffee, cocoa, wood, charcoal and rubber, as well as products derived from them, must be compulsorily certified, many remain still skeptical because they believe that Argentina still has enough to negotiate with. One of those cases is that of Santiago del Solar - producer, agronomist and former chief of staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries during the times of Mauricio Macri -, for whom the docility that the country has been showing towards the EU is a big mistake. “This is a broad brush regulation that gets into the laws of other countries. This regulation 2023/1115, which they call due ...