Europe's leather industry wins exemption from EU deforestation rules
Cattle hides are now excluded from the EU Deforestation Regulation even though the beef from the same animals must still comply, a gap critics call a loophole.
According to a piece published Friday by Elisângela Mendonça on Mongabay, the European Union has formally exempted leather from its landmark deforestation regulation (EUDR), after the scrutiny period allowed for the European Parliament and Council to object expired without action on September 14. The move caps a lobbying campaign in which leather industry groups met European lawmakers at least 22 times since 2021, led by two Italian tannery associations, COTANCE and Unione Nazionale Industria Conciaria.
The exemption creates an unusual split: beef from cattle raised on illegally deforested land will still be barred from the EU market, but hides from the same animals can now enter freely. The European Commission's own estimates found leather could account for up to 17% of the deforestation risk embedded in products imported into the bloc, a figure environmental groups cite in arguing the carve-out undermines the law's purpose.
Industry representatives frame hides as a low-value byproduct of the meat industry that shouldn't bear responsibility for deforestation linked to cattle ranching, while environmental groups counter that leather remains part of a highly profitable global supply chain. The exemption will be revisited in a scheduled 2030 review, and the leather sector says it plans to use the years before then to build voluntary traceability standards and supporting research to make its case for staying exempt.
Elisângela Mendonça, Mongabay: https://news.mongabay.com/2026/09/now-exempt-from-eu-deforestation-rules-leather-industry-moves-to-repair-reputation/
This article was produced with the assistance of AI tools and reviewed by an editor before publication.
