Australia has called on the European Union to delay new deforestation regulation due to concerns regarding its impact on trade, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said on Tuesday.
The new EU regulation, set to come into force on December 30, would see a ban on the import of products such as coffee, wood and beef if forests have been cleared for their production after 2020.
The aim of the import ban is to significantly reduce deforestation of rainforests worldwide, including in the Amazon region in South America.
Watt said he had contacted the EU commissioner for the environment to outline Australia's concerns with the potential impact of the legislation on its trade with the bloc.
"I have requested that the EU commissioner delay its implementation until all requirements are fully understood and to avoid any adverse impact on our agriculture trade," Watt said as he delivered an annual update on Australian beef sustainability.
"There is understandably very real concern about what that will mean for Australian businesses that are either already exporting to Europe, or want to have the opportunity to do so in the future," Watt continued.
Watt stressed that, while he didn't think the regulation would affect Australia's beef exports to the EU, it created an atmosphere of uncertainty.
While the agriculture minister said Australian beef exports should not be impacted by the new regulations he said it had created a mood of uncertainty for the industry.