The Council gave the final go-ahead to a regulation that aims to minimise the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products that are placed on or exported from the EU market. The EU is a large consumer and trader of commodities and products that play a substantial part in deforestation. The new rules aim to ensure that the EU’s consumption and trade of these commodities and products don’t contribute to deforestation and further degrading forest ecosystems. The regulation sets mandatory due diligence rules for all operators and traders who place, make available or export the following commodities from the EU market: palm oil, cattle, wood, coffee, cocoa, rubber and soy. The rules also apply to a number of derived products such as chocolate, furniture, printed paper and selected palm oil based derivates. Operators will be required to trace the commodities they are selling back to the plot of land where they were produced.