(Bloomberg) -- The European Union should postpone a regulation to tackle deforestation beyond its borders and use the time for a revision that would reduce the bureaucratic burden, according to senior European Parliament member Peter Liese.

The call by Liese, spokesman on environment for the European People’s Party, the biggest group in parliament, comes amid concerns by developing countries that the Deforestation Regulation creates red tape and penalizes producers. The US last month joined the chorus of critics, urging the EU to delay the law.

The regulation, known as EUDR, aims to crack down on the destruction of forests resulting from the production of commodities like rubber, beef, cocoa and timber. The rules, which kick in at the end of the year, require importers to provide documentation showing that such products aren’t linked to deforestation. While the EU is right to pursue the goal, the way it’s implemented must change, according to Liese.

“We must do something about deforestation worldwide and take our responsibility seriously,” Liese said in a statement on Thursday. “However, the regulation has been turned into a bureaucratic monster.”

In its current form, the EUDR is threatening far-reaching consequences for more than $110 billion of trade annually, economies across six continents and suppliers struggling to get to grips with the reality of Europe’s drive to be greener. Every coffee bean, carcass of beef and log of wood — along with such things as chocolate, tires and books — will need to be traced to the exact locations they came from, or the EU will levy hefty penalties.

Many small farmers around the world and even small forest owners in the European Union cannot work with the existing provisions of the law, according to Liese. He said that after many discussions that he held with the European Commission and other political groups in parliament, he is optimistic that the EU regulatory arm will propose a delay and the bloc’s assembly will endorse it.

“We can adopt the postponement in the short term making use of the urgent procedure so that all sides have time to breathe and then calmly discuss changes to the text that mean less bureaucracy but still protection against deforestation,” Liese said.

 

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