“The EUDR in Practice – Between Ambition and Feasibility”

Event Description  

The EU Regulation on Deforestation is a landmark initiative that will reshape global supply chains—bringing greater transparency, strengthening standards, and supporting the transition to deforestation-free production affecting producers, traders, and businesses across both food and non-food sectors. 

As the countdown to implementation continues, the focus now turns to ensuring effective and practical implementation. While significant progress has been made, a number of operational questions remain where further clarification and alignment will support smooth and consistent application. This European Food Forum discussion will bring together experts, practitioners, and decision-makers to take a realistic stock of the conditions required for a pragmatic, efficient, and impactful implementation. 

The focus of this EFF event will be on key aspects of implementation, including ongoing work on guidance and simplification, and the importance of providing legal certainty for operators—while supporting the overarching objective of eliminating deforestation from global supply chains. 

At the same time, we will engage with national authorities to understand their level of preparedness and exchange on technical implementation, process adaptation, data flows, and the need for coherent implementation and harmonization across Member States. 

Finally, we will hear from different value chains on their implementation journeys, highlighting practical experiences, challenges encountered, and emerging good practices. 

We look forward to another open and constructive EFF exchange on how to ensure effective implementation of the EUDR, maintaining its ambition while supporting the competitiveness of the European food value chain. 

Draft Agenda: 

Moderator: Pietro Paganini, Co-Founder, Competere 

17h00 - 17h10 Opening remarks by hosting MEPs Pietro Fiocchi and Christine Singer 

17h10 – 17h25 | Panel I: Delivering effective EUDR implementation 

• Jay CEYSSENS, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Jessika Roswall 

Q&A  

17h25-18h10 | Panel II: Implementation perspectives from different Member States 

• Andreas SCHÄFER, Head of Department, German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) 

• Dr. Bartolomeo FILADELFIA, Director of the TERR I Office, Italian Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, ICQRF Department (Italian Central Inspectorate for Quality Protection and Fraud Repression of Agri-food Products) 

• Dr. Salvatore ALBERINO, Senior Officer at ICQRF (Central Inspectorate of Quality Protection and Fraud Suppression of Agri-food Products) of the MASAF (Ministry of Agriculture, of food sovereignty and forests at Department) 

Q&A  

18h10-18h50 | Panel III: Food supply chain operators view 

• Non-SME operators that are relatively advanced in implementation and can share emerging best practices 

  • Ylenia MAITINO, Sustainability Public Policy, Director, Ferrero 

• Downstream non-SME/SME operators representing more complex value chains 

  • Iliana AXIOTIADES – Secretary General, COCERAL 

• Non-SME/SME operators facing significant practical challenges 

  • Eileen GORDON, Secretary General, European Coffee Federation 

    
    

Q&A  

18h50 – 19h00 | Closing Remarks by hosting MEPs Pietro Fiocchi and Christine Singer

Presentations