Book publishers and bookshops have welcomed the vote in the European Parliament to exclude books and other printed matter from the EUDR, whether or not the regulation itself is delayed a further year.
The vote now goes to the European Council and Commission for a final decision to be taken in December ahead of the EUDR coming into force at the end of the month.
The vote follows on from a call by Intergraf for a stop the clock intervention to postpone implementation of the legislation as the burden placed on small operators, covering the majority of printers would be too onerous in terms of recording and managing the DDS reference numbers which allow the source of forestry derived products to be traced back to a well managed forest and the plots where trees ultimate originate from. Along a paper production chain through the creation and combination of pulps to make different papers, one book may have its origins in some 30,000 forest plots. While an extreme example, it is indicative of the problem.
Intergraf’s suggestions is that this level of detail is unnecessary and that paper and printed matter, books included, entering the EU should record the company placing the product on the market.
The regulation has previously been welcomed by EU printers as a way to manage a flood of titles imported from Asia that might undermine local production. That the vote from the Parliament suggests the exclusion of books, is unsurprisingly welcomed from publishers who can stick with existing supply chains and booksellers who can import books from UK printers without incurring an extra administrative burden.
Publishers’ Association CEO Dan Conway issued a statement saying: “This common sense support by the European Parliament to exclude books from the EUDR legislation recognises the complexity of book production and distribution compared to simpler, single origin commodities for which the legislation was conceived. Our members’ commitment to a greener, cleaner and more sustainable publishing industry remains unwavering. The passing of this amendment – which we hope will be agreed with the European Council and Commission shortly – will enable publishers to redouble their efforts on other areas where significant gains can be made.”
In its original form the EUDR would have forced those selling books and magazines anywhere in Ireland that were printed in the UK to obtain the requisite certification. The Periodical Publishers’ Association has also called for clarity on how EUDR might be implemented.
