SINGAPORE — The EU’s landmark anti-deforestation law is under fire for a risk classification system that critics say overlooks illegal logging and governance failures — potentially undermining the very goal of halting forest loss. The EUDR’s benchmarking system, which affects the level of checks and requirements faced by exporters and EU importers alike, appears to focus overwhelmingly on deforestation metrics and existing EU political sanctions, according to an analysis by nonprofit Forest Trends. At the same time, it overlooks equally critical issues like governance, corruption and law enforcement capacity, the analysis found. Forest Trends warns that this narrow focus risks missing systemic governance failures and enforcement gaps — the very conditions that enable illegal deforestation to flourish, even when official forest loss appears low. The risks are especially high as illegal deforestation is widespread in many tropical countries that export their goods to the EU, with estimates suggesting that 50-90% of deforestation in some tropical regions is illegal. This approach may misclassify countries with weak enforcement and high illegality as low or standard risk. Many countries with well-documented governance failures, such as the Republic of Congo and Papua New Guinea, are classified as “low risk,” alongside Finland and Norway. As part of its implementation, the EUDR uses a benchmarking system to classify countries based on their deforestation risk: low, standard or high. This classification determines the level of inspections and obligations placed on operators and member states’ authorities. Forest Trends pointed out that the World Bank designates the Republic of…This article was originally published on Mongabay