The Netherlands largest EU importer of soy, palm oil and cocoa

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In May of this year, the European Council adopted new rules to prevent consumption and trade within the EU from causing further deforestation and degradation of forest ecosystems. Deforestation and forest degradation are mainly driven by the worldwide expansion of agricultural land. Concrete examples of deforestation-linked imported goods include soy, cattle and beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee as well as any derivatives thereof.

In terms of import value, the Netherlands is the largest EU importer of soy, palm oil and cocoa (as well as the related products) from outside the EU. Furthermore, the Netherlands is the second largest EU importer of non-EU wood and cattle and related products, as well as the sixth largest EU importer of coffee; the latter often enters the Netherlands via Germany and Belgium.

Wood imports have more than doubled in two decades

The largest volume growth in these imports from outside the EU since 2002 is in wood (+125 percent), followed by cocoa (+67 percent), cattle (+53 percent) and palm oil (+19 percent). The import volume of coffee has declined slightly (-2 percent) and soy imports have fallen by 21 percent.