Is the European Union Deforestation Regulation WTO-Proof? The Context of EU's Green Agenda and an Exercise of WTO Compatibility

In 2019, the European Commission presented the Green Deal as set of legislative and non-legislative proposals aiming to make the block net-zero in its emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050. To reduce the carbon footprint of EU imported consumption, the EU Deforestation Regulation proposes to halt the importation of products linked to deforestation worldwide. It plans to make operators passive of fines and administrative measures when failing to comply with the regulation. The European Commission will classify exporting countries of soy, beef, coffee, palm oil, wood, cocoa and rubber according to what it understands are the risks of deforestation in these countries.As the regulation is designed, stakeholders diverge on the compliancy of the EUDR with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Based on the regulation’s agreed dispositions on December 2022, this study proposes an analysis on the expected criteria for classification of countries’ risks of deforestation, and how the use of this classification may have discriminatory externalities on trade, under the light of WTO principles. Specific analysis of discrimination claims shall be made once the regulations is implemented, based on specific likeness check, on how the classification of risks was conducted, and how possible trade distortive effects derive from the application of the EUDR