The Netherlands remains the largest EU importer of all commodities in scope of the EUDR, new AidEnvironment analysis shows

Author

Melissa

Date

Oct 2024

By Sarah Drost, Valerie de Vries and Iqra Rafiq

The Netherlands imported 44.1% of all cocoa products imported in the EU from non-EU origin countries in 2023, 41.6% of all palm oil products, 19.3% of all soy products, and 13.5% of all cattle products.

These insights and many more can be found in the 27 factsheets AidEnvironment has developed in September 2024 for each of the EU member states. For the member state profiles we have analysed 2023 trade data for 76 products currently included under the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

The 27 profiles, focusing on the key commodity groups cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, wood, and rubber, identify which EU member states are at higher risk of importing commodities linked to deforestation.

Each profile provides detailed insights into trade flows, including key supplying and importing countries, major imported commodities, and potential exposure to deforestation risks.

Some key highlights:

For all seven commodities under scope of the EUDR, the top-5 EU importing member states by volumes are: 1) The Netherlands; 2) Germany; 3) Italy; 4) Spain; and 5) France.
The role played by The Netherlands in imports of deforestation-risk commodities is massive. The country imported 17.2 million metric tons of all seven commodity groups in 2023, corresponding to 19% of the total volumes imported in the EU from non-EU countries.
Slovakia, Romania, Czech Republic, and Hungary, while importing relatively few commodities under the EUDR, seem to have a larger footprint in the imports of rubber from deforestation-risk countries Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Côte d’Ivoire. This is very likely linked to the countries’ roles in tyre production.
Poland imports significant volumes of soy, particularly soy oil cake, from high deforestation-risk countries Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina (can still originate from Paraguay and Bolivia, as this AidEnvironment paper demonstrates).
While Finland imported less than 1% of all the EU’s fresh beef imports from non-EU countries in 2023, all beef originated from high-deforestation risk country Brazil.
Denmark imports 4.5% of the total EU27 imports of wood from non-EU countries, mainly in the form of fuel wood, for which it imports 39% from the United States, but also 21% from high deforestation-risk country Brazil.

Drawing on expertise from both past and ongoing projects, AidEnvironment has built strong expertise in analysing trade data and tracking European and global trends over time. The European Climate Foundation has supported the development of the EU Member State profiles and EU27 overviews.

For more information, please reach out to Sarah Drost: drost@aidenvironment.org

EU Overview – EU import shares per forest risk commodity – AidEnvironment Sept 2024

EU Overview Key commodity products imported per EU member state -AidEnvironment Sept 2024

Austria profile – AidEnvironment September 2024

Belgium profile – AidEnvironment September 2024

Bulgaria profile – AidEnvironment September 2024

Croatia profile – AidEnvironment September 2024

Cyprus profile – AidEnvironment September 2024

Czech Republic profile – AidEnvironment September 2024 (updated 15.10.2024)

Denmark profile – AidEnvironment September 2024

Estonia profile – AidEnvironment September 2024 (updated 15.10.2024

Finland profile – AidEnvironment September 2024