The European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) has been adjusted to the deadline for large enterprises to comply with the EUDR by 30 December 2025; for small, medium and micro enterprises by 30 June 2026. From this point on, companies will not be able to export coffee to the European market without proving that their products are not related to deforestation after 31 December 2020. Dak Nong is one of the key regions for coffee exports, so compliance with the EUDR is urgent.
Illegal deforestation for coffee plantations is posing many challenges for Dak Nong localities in complying with EUDR regulations.Dak Nong has the third largest coffee area in the country after Dak Lak and Lam Dong, with 142,000 hectares. Coffee accounts for 37% of the province's cultivated area, with an output of 360,000 tons/year. Currently, the province's coffee products are exported to dozens of countries, with an output of about 120,000 tons/year.
Dak Nong has 400,000 people involved in coffee production. Coffee is identified as the key industry and product of the province and the country, so coffee export, especially to the European market in the coming years, will face many difficulties and challenges due to new regulations.
Previously, on May 16, 2023, the European Council passed the bill "European Union Deforestation Zero Regulation", according to which, Europe will ban the import of agricultural and forestry products produced on land originating from deforestation and forest degradation from December 31, 2024.
Realizing the importance of that, Dak Nong province has directed all levels and sectors to urgently organize and implement and initially achieved certain results. Specifically, Dak Nong has issued an action plan framework to adapt to EUDR; established a provincial public-private working group to implement the action plan framework to adapt to EUDR; directed departments, sectors and localities to strengthen propaganda, dissemination, and develop plans to organize and implement EUDR regulations...
However, the implementation of the EUDR regulations still faces many difficulties and challenges. These include limited guidance documents and related documents; the database on forests and growing areas is not yet synchronized and detailed to each plot and garden; tracing the origin and registering growing area codes is difficult; the participation and support of relevant parties; purchasing and exporting enterprises are still limited; resources and techniques to implement the necessary contents and intervention solutions of the province are difficult.
According to Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Pham Tuan Anh, in recent times, the province's forest management and agricultural production methods have been on the right track, in line with the principles of EURD. The province has prioritized the protection of existing forest areas, not allowing forest areas to be destroyed for agricultural production. This is an important step forward to help Dak Nong comply with the requirements of EUDR and preserve environmental resources. Dak Nong also actively applies high technology in coffee production, focusing on producing high-quality coffee, specialty coffee, environmentally friendly, helping to increase productivity and save resources. Enterprises, cooperatives, and people are producing about 23,500 hectares of coffee that meet international certification standards such as GlobalGAP, Rainforest Alliance, UTZ Certified or Organic with an output of over 82,000 tons/year. This is an important tool for Dak Nong coffee to penetrate international markets, especially the EU.
The province’s coffee production is also shifting towards organic production. About 100 hectares of coffee have been certified organically and hundreds of hectares are applying organic production processes. Organic farming is a global trend, helping to improve the quality of coffee products, meeting the strict requirements of the European market.
In addition, Dak Nong pays special attention to international cooperation in coffee production. The locality has coordinated with major organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) to implement coffee production projects. These projects focus on sustainable landscape management, forest protection, and improving the productivity and quality of coffee products.
International cooperation has facilitated the province in complying with EUDR regulations. The results achieved in coffee production today help the locality comply with EUDR regulations, opening up sustainable development opportunities for the province's coffee export industry.
According to EUDR, there are four main groups of requirements for localities and producers, including: Having data on coordinates (GPS) and boundaries for each coffee plot/garden; establishing a data information system for coffee plots/garden to serve as a basis for product traceability combined with support for supply chain connectivity; establishing a monitoring system for reporting and providing feedback on product traceability and forest protection related to coffee production and logging; having a reporting, information and feedback mechanism when requested by the importing country.
Pham Quang Trung, Head of the Global Coffee Forum in Vietnam, said that in order to meet the EUDR principles, it is necessary to coordinate with relevant parties in building a database including coordinates and maps of large plots. This is the most important content in the dossier when exporting coffee to the EU. In addition, it is necessary to communicate to raise awareness so that producers comply with the EUDR principles.
According to Mr. Truong Tat Do, Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation, Vietnam Forestry Department, EUDR compliance for farming households is facing many challenges. In recent years, illegal deforestation for coffee cultivation has posed many challenges for Dak Nong localities in complying with EUDR regulations. Many households have been producing coffee for many years but do not have land use right certificates; the total number of gardens in the Central Highlands is more than 500,000... is one of the challenges in declaring and registering codes to trace the origin of products when sold on the market later.
Representative of the Sustainable Trade Initiative - IDH Bui Duc Hao said that IDH has implemented a project to build a database of coffee growing areas that meet EUDR in Lam Dong. The project has built a database framework that is compatible with EUDR. This framework is calculated with basic data elements on agricultural and forestry land use planning; forest and cadastral data; land data without cadastral extract. From here, analysis and reference are used to create output data, which is a retrieval system. These are experiences and methods that Dak Nong can learn from, refer to, and shape in building data on growing areas that meet EUDR.
Mr. Gonzalo Serrano De La Rosa, Deputy Head of Cooperation, Delegation of the European Union, assessed that the efforts of Vietnam in general and Dak Nong in particular in implementing specific measures to meet standards on agricultural products against deforestation and forest degradation are very timely.
Mr. Gonzalo said that the EUDR regulations are both a challenge and an opportunity for the Dak Nong coffee industry in the process of developing high-quality agricultural products, clean, organic and sustainable agriculture. Meeting the EUDR standards is the basis for increasing trade opportunities for Dak Nong coffee in world markets in the coming years.
Source: https://baodaknong.vn/dak-nong-chu-dong-dap-ung-quy-dinh-chong-pha-rung-cua-lien-minh-chau-au-236049.html
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