EU ban on deforestation-linked goods sets benchmark, say US lawmakers

Campaigners hail EU move, and congressman says it gives fresh impetus to similar US plans

A groundbreaking EU deal to ban the import of goods linked to deforestation has set a global benchmark and will hasten the passage of a similar law in the US, American lawmakers have said.

A football pitch-sized tract of forest is lost every second somewhere around the world, mostly to agricultural expansion. From 2024, the EU will require firms working in deforestation hotspots to certify that their goods have not harmed forests after a cutoff date of 31 December 2020.