Eduardo Ávila points out that the EU-Mercosur agreement has reduced French pressure against Colombian coffee

Eduardo González The Colombian ambassador to Spain, Eduardo Ávila, has stated that the signing of the trade agreement between Mercosur and the European Union, which will provisionally enter into force on May 1, has eased environmental pressure from some EU countries, particularly France, to prevent the export of Colombian coffee to Europe. The European Union's Deforestation-Free Products Regulation (EUDR) will come into effect on December 31, 2026, prohibiting the entry into the European market of any product originating from land deforested after December 31, 2020. This regulation could affect, among other products, Colombian coffee and cocoa. "Right now, there isn't as much pressure from the European Union in this regard," the ambassador declared during the presentation of 'Coffee Master Spain,' a promotional campaign for Colombian coffee launched by ProColombia and the Colombian Embassy in Spain. “We have been in talks with the European Union” to try to postpone the application of the regulation, “but, following the signing of the treaty with Mercosur,” the “countries that were pushing hardest, such as France, for the implementation” of these restrictions have softened their stance, he stated during a meeting with journalists held this Monday, March 23, at the Embassy headquarters in Madrid. In any case, “there are associations here in Europe that are working, and we are working hand in hand with them, on all matters related to a possible halt to coffee and cocoa exports,” the ambassador indicated. Deforestation in Mercosur countries has been a point of contention in the trade agreement negotiations between the European Union and Mercosur. Both Greenpeace and Ecologistas en Acción have warned that the treaty, signed in mid-January, could increase the risk of deforestation because it could conflict with the aforementioned EUDR, which was scheduled to come into effect on December 31st but has now been postponed for a year. The EUDR affects the production of cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy, and timber. For Colombia, the most exposed sectors are coffee, cocoa, and palm oil. Although Colombia is not a member of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur), which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, deforestation in the country has been a concern within Mercosur due to its connection to the Amazon rainforest. The Colombian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Tourism requested a one-year postponement of the EUDR last October from the European Commission's Directorate-General for the Environment. According to the Bogotá government, the EU should reclassify Colombia as a country with a "low risk of deforestation." In their request, Luis Felipe Quintero Suárez, Vice Minister of Foreign Trade, and Gabriel Duque, head of the Trade Office in Brussels, highlighted their country's recent progress in traceability and sustainability. The Colombian Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development has asserted that the country has strengthened its sustainable production policies, forest cover monitoring, and land traceability over the past ten years, and that there is technical evidence that Colombian agro-industrial exports, especially coffee, cocoa, and palm oil, are not associated with recent deforestation. In the first quarter of 2025, according to the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Lena Estrada Añokazi, deforestation in the Colombian Amazon decreased by 35 percent. Despite this, Colombia registered losses exceeding 100,000 hectares of forest in 2024, placing it seventh in the world according to the World Resources Institute's Global Forest Watch platform. However, the main cause of this deforestation was not agricultural expansion, as in previous years, but rather the resurgence of violence in rural areas, the expansion of illegal mining, and the increase in illicit crops. In 2025, Colombia exported products such as coffee, cocoa, and palm oil to the European Union valued at US$1.13 billion (€967 million), representing a 109% increase compared to the previous year. According to the Government, 98% of coffee plots comply with deforestation regulations.

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