A shipment of soya meal, thought to be the first of its kind in Europe, arrived into Ringaskiddy at the beginning of January, to test if the new EU deforestation regulations, which come into effect on 30 December 2024, are workable.

Under the new regulations, products like soya, wood, cattle, coffee and cocoa cannot be imported into the EU if they were produced on land deforested since 31 December 2020.

Philip Lynch, soya meal trader at R & H Hall, said: “There is a lot of uncertainty out there around how it will affect the shipment of affected goods into Europe. The regulation challenges the ordinary logistics chain that has been in place for a long time, particularly at origin.”

Lynch explained that the purpose of the exercise on the recent shipment was to demonstrate a fully traceable supply chain that meets the new regulation’s requirements.

A comprehensive list of each geolocation or plot of land where the soybeans were grown is needed, as well as a risk assessment to determine the plots have not been subject to deforestation after December 2020.

He explained that a third party was employed at source to audit the process, and to determine if the traceability system would stand up to regulations due to come into effect at the end of 2024.

The trader was optimistic on supply. He said Europe is a major market for South American soya and they are working closely with their suppliers to develop solutions to meet regulations.

Under the regulation, he commented that “consumers will know that if it’s placed on the market, it has gone through this rigorous process and is not contributing to deforestation”.