On October 8th, the environmental news portal Mongabay published a report on the US 2021 FOREST Act. This is a bill presented to the United States Congress that aims to prohibit the import of products from illegally deforested land and establish guidelines for exporting countries to strengthen their environmental regulations. Sponsored by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), the bill seeks to assign responsibility to those responsible for producing and purchasing agricultural products that are destroying forests around the world.
CIPÓ’s Executive Director CIPÓ, Adriana Abdenur, was invited to comment the topic. “Since the act is geared at illegal deforestation, it will have limited impact in places like Brazil, whose federal government is promoting the legalization of environmental crimes – especially those related to forest areas”, said Adriana.
For Adriana, while the legislation does look promising for curbing deforestation and improving traceability, the problem is only going to be resolved if tackled in equal good faith by the U.S. side as well as on the side of its trade partners.
