US paper makers are warning the EU that a new law requiring them to trace timber to its origins risks disrupting $3.5 billion of trade and raising prices for diapers, sanitary pads and other hygiene products. It will be impossible to comply with the pending regulation because pulp supply chains are too diffuse to track all trees, and there’s often a two-year lag between the time they’re cut down and when they’re turned into fiber. The US industry is a major exporter of “fluff pulp,” an absorbent material used to make personal products. American suppliers meet about 60% of the EU’s needs, so any interruption would reverberate throughout the 27-nation bloc. “The EUDR as is currently written will raise the costs significantly for US producers, and it will translate into inflationary pressures in the EU,” said Mark Pitts, at AF&PA. There have been some repercussions from the law even before it takes effect, with companies having supply agreements derailed, Pitts said. [to access the full story a Bloomberg subscription is required]