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For years, the European Union has been working to advance legislation to ban imports of commodities linked to deforestation. However, the process has been complicated, and the legislation, known as the EUDR, has been delayed twice. The regulation has drawn criticism from affected industry actors, who say the process for proving their products do not contribute to deforestation is onerous and confusing.
Unless another delay is implemented, the EUDR will come into force at the end of 2026, and coffee is one of the commodities that the law would impact—well, most kinds of coffee.
For reasons nobody can quite explain, the EUDR does not cover instant coffee. An unnamed coffee trade expert chatted with Food Navigator’s Flora Southey and told the outlet that instant’s omission is most likely down to human error. “I understand instant coffee had been missed by mistake,” they said. “The Commission has recognised that and is going to add it – because it’s a big, glaring omission.”
Unless resolved, the omission of instant coffee could create a weird loophole. In theory, a coffee company could source deforestation-linked coffee, process it into instant outside the EU, and then import the finished product without technically violating any rules. “If you’re a big-name company, with processing operations closer to the coffee source, you could export packaged products into Europe – and sidestep the regulation,” the expert said.
Asked for comment by Food Navigator, the European Commission wouldn’t confirm whether or not instant coffee will be added to the EUDR. However, in February, Euractiv reported that the EC is considering “targeted tweaks” to the regulation that would involve adding instant coffee.
“It definitely makes sense for it to be included,” the expert said. “If you set a rule for coffee, but the customs code only covers the raw product, well, the coffee is still coffee.”
Read the full story on the instant coffee loophole from Food Navigator here.
