SL scrambles to protect rubber trade ahead of EU forest rules

Sri Lanka, as a country, will have to comply with it when exporting to EU markets

mapping of Sri Lanka’s plantations had begun to prove that they are not linked to deforestation 

By Kelum Bandara   

Sri Lanka is working hard to protect its rubber products exports to the markets in the European Union to avoid any impact from the EU Deforestation Regulation which will come into effect next year, the Daily Mirror learns.  

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) is a new law which is aimed at requiring companies to ensure that products imported to or exported from EU markets no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation globally.  

Sri Lanka, as a country, will have to comply with it when exporting to the EU markets   

According to the EU, the main driver of deforestation is the expansion of agricultural land linked to the production of commodities like cattle, wood, cocoa, soy, palm oil, coffee, rubber, and some of their derived products, such as leather, chocolate, tyres, or furniture.   

Under the Regulation, any operator or trader who places these commodities on the EU market, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation.  

The EUDR was introduced by the EU Commission in November 2021, and adopted in 2023, with the aim of effectively banning deforestation-linked products on the EU market. 

The new deforestation regulation had initially been set to come into force at the end of 2024, but was delayed by a year at the request of the Commission to give companies more time to prepare for its compliance obligations. In September 2025, the Commission considered proposing a second one-year delay due to concerns regarding the ability of current IT systems to handle the data load created by the new regulation. In October, however, the Commission’s formal proposal retained plans to have the EUDR enter into force at the end of this year, but introduced a six-month enforcement grace period, and gave small enterprises until the end of 2026 to begin complying with the regulation.  

Asked about Sri Lanka’s preparation for the new regulation, Plantation Minister Samantha Vidyaratne said that mapping of Sri Lanka’s plantations had begun to prove that they are not linked to deforestation.  

“We do mapping now . However, there is no issue for old plantations . The new plantations are being mapped ,” he said.