Environment Commissioner Jessica Roswall reportedly raised concerns about slowdowns in the IT system if it were to go live.

The European Union will postpone the entry into force of its anti-deforestation regulation (EUDR) for the second time, Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall announced, postponing for another year the ban on imports of raw materials like palm oil linked to forest destruction.

Brussels had already postponed the regulation's entry into force by a year, but this did not quell opposition from industrial and trading partners such as Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States, who argue that complying with the rules would be costly and would harm their exports to Europe.

Roswall told reporters that the postponement was necessary to address concerns about the adequacy of the IT systems needed to support the law. The delay was not related to US concerns about the policy, the commissioner said. "We are concerned about the IT system, given the amount of information we input into it. This will also give us time to assess the various risks," he said.

The EU Deforestation Regulation was due to come into force on December 30 and would have required operators selling commodities such as soy, beef, and palm oil in EU markets to provide proof that their products do not cause deforestation. This unprecedented policy aims to end the 10% of global deforestation fueled by the consumption of goods imported from the EU, but it is a politically contested element of the European green agenda.

As part of the trade agreement with President Donald Trump , the EU pledged to address US manufacturers' concerns about the regulations. The US pulp and paper industry has previously requested that American products be exempted from the rules. Some countries, including Poland and Austria, have argued that European manufacturers cannot comply with traceability rules.

In a letter to the chair of the European Parliament's Environment Committee, Roswall said the Commission feared the IT system was at risk of "slowing to unacceptable levels," potentially disrupting trade.