Late last week, the European Parliament voted to remove printed books and newspapers from the need to comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) act. The goal of EUDR is to prevent forest degradation by mandating that only "deforestation-free" products can be sold in the European Economic Area, and the newest version of the act had included printed matter.

Initially, EUDR was set to go into effect at the start of 2025, but pushback from scores of industries had delayed implementation until 2026. To prepare of the implementation of EUDR, book and paper manufacturers spent countless hours debating how to meet the requirements as well as making significant financial investments to achieve those objectives.

Nothing is simple where EUDR is concerned, however. While the European Parliament voted to remove printed materials from EUDR, the European Commission has not. A meeting is set for late December to try to reconcile the views of the two organizations. According to reports, the Commission, at least for the moment, is leaning toward another delay in implementing the entire EUDR package and has not endorsed removing books from the act. It is still possible that if the parties can't agree on a resolution, EUDR could go into effect at the end of this year, though that is seen as unlikely.

As one executive told PW about the ongoing process, "there are several changes in the mix," adding for emphasis, "lots and lots and lots."

The EUDR was front and center the 2024 Book Manufacturers’ Institute annual meeting where various speakers discussed the need to keep preparing to meet the regulations despite the one-year delay, which had been announced a few weeks before the meeting. At the Book Manufacturers Institute's annual meeting this November, the subject was less top of mind; all the paper manufacturer executives on a panel looking at trends said that their companies were set to meet the requirements, although they also all said that they expected there to be some last-minute changes to the regulations and possibly to the timetable for implementation.