According to the new European Commission proposal for a regulation on deforestation-free products, six commodities - cattle, wood, palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee and their derivate products – grown or raised on land that was subject to deforestation or forest degradation will be banned from entering the EU market. In this commentary paper, we discuss the possible unintended effects of the regulation and elaborate on potential ways to reduce the negative impacts, on vulnerable groups in producer countries, such as smallholders, Indigenous peoples, and local communities (IPLCs). Such impacts could comprise exclusion of smallholders and IPLCs from high-value supply chains of commodities covered by the regulation, inadequate price premiums to cover the costs of complying with this regulation, increase the risk of land conflicts between large-scale and small-scale agriculture, push smallholders and IPLCs to marginal lands, and even exacerbate human rights risks already associated with large-scale commodity production. In order to avoid or minimize such impacts, we propose: 1) to make provisions for companies, smallholders, and producing regions to receive sufficient support in their transition to deforestation-free supply chains and to provide incentives so that this transition can be inclusive; 2) to further promote and strengthen holistic approaches, such as jurisdictional or other integrated landscape management approaches to address the many issues that can arise from conflicting interests and unequal power distribution in affected landscapes; 3) to make clear provisions for protection of human rights and to promote land rights for smallholders and IPLCs related to tenure security; and 4) to ensure that regular and robust impact assessments inform policy about both direct and indirect impacts of the regulation on smallholders and IPLCs so that timely and adequate action can be taken to minimize the unintended effects of this regulation. Addressing potential negative impacts on smallholders and IPLCs would also ensure that the progress achieved so far in terms of other UN SDGs related to poverty, inequality, hunger, and land restoration is not compromised.

根据欧盟委员会关于无毁林产品法规的新提案，六种商品——牛、木材、棕榈油、大豆、可可和咖啡及其衍生产品——在遭受毁林或森林退化的土地上种植或饲养将被禁止进入欧盟市场。在本评论文件中，我们讨论了法规可能产生的意外影响，并详细阐述了减少对生产国弱势群体（如小农、土著人民和当地社区 (IPLC)）的负面影响的潜在方法。此类影响可能包括将小农和 IPLC 排除在法规涵盖的高价值商品供应链之外，价格溢价不足以支付遵守该法规的成本，增加大规模和小规模农业之间土地冲突的风险，将小农和 IPLC 推向边缘土地，甚至加剧已经与大规模商品生产相关的人权风险。为了避免或尽量减少此类影响，我们建议： 1) 为公司、小农户和生产地区做出规定，使其在向无森林砍伐供应链的过渡过程中获得足够的支持，并提供激励措施，使这一过渡具有包容性；2) 进一步促进和加强整体方法，例如管辖权或其他综合景观管理方法，以解决受影响景观中利益冲突和权力分配不均可能引起的许多问题；3) 明确规定保护人权，促进与土地权保障相关的小农和 IPLC 的土地权利；4) 确保定期和稳健的影响评估为政策提供有关该法规对小农和 IPLC 的直接和间接影响的信息，以便及时采取适当的行动，以尽量减少该法规的意外影响。解决对小农和 IPLC 的潜在负面影响也将确保迄今为止在与贫困、不平等、饥饿和土地恢复相关的其他联合国可持续发展目标方面取得的进展不受影响。4) 确保定期和稳健的影响评估为政策提供有关该法规对小农和 IPLC 的直接和间接影响的信息，以便及时采取适当的行动，以尽量减少该法规的意外影响。解决对小农和 IPLC 的潜在负面影响也将确保迄今为止在与贫困、不平等、饥饿和土地恢复相关的其他联合国可持续发展目标方面取得的进展不受影响。4) 确保定期和稳健的影响评估为政策提供有关该法规对小农和 IPLC 的直接和间接影响的信息，以便及时采取适当的行动，以尽量减少该法规的意外影响。解决对小农和 IPLC 的潜在负面影响也将确保迄今为止在与贫困、不平等、饥饿和土地恢复相关的其他联合国可持续发展目标方面取得的进展不受影响。