The European Commission is set to exclude leather from its anti deforestation law, EU officials told Reuters and according to other sources on April 30, 2026.
If confirmed, the exemption would remove leather from the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which from December 2026 will require companies selling goods including soy, coffee, beef and palm oil into the EU to prove their products did not cause deforestation. Those breaking the rules risk hefty fines and a potential ban on accessing the EU market.
The EUDR was adopted almost 3 years ago but its application, originally set for December 2024, has been delayed. The regulation is currently scheduled to come into force for large operators at the end of December 2026, with an extension of six months for smaller companies.
Following protests from multiple sectors, the European Commission agreed to carry out a review of EUDR and promised to make the findings public before the end of April 2026.
The potential exclusion follows intensive efforts by leather industry groups such as COTANCE, who made their case to EU lawmakers and European Commission representatives multiple times and at a recent meeting in Brussels on April 8, 2026.
Read: Brussels Meeting Debates Leather Exclusion from EU Deforestation Regulation
The Brussels meeting was led by COTANCE and MEP Dario Nardella and brought together the European leather industry leaders, European Commission representatives, delegates from Canada, USA, Sweden, India, Australia, Vietnam, Japan and Brazil, along with Members of the European Parliament, scientists, tanners and NGOs.
Industry groups including COTANCE argued that as a byproduct of the meat industry with a relatively low value, leather’s production does not incentivise the cattle farming that drives deforestation. Participants said leather is not a driver of deforestation and its inclusion in the regulation was done without a proper impact assessment.
They also presented a research report from the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and global industry data that supported this view. Industry leaders pointed out that farmers are not interested in following EUDR rules based on raw hide sales, which account for only about 1.4% of the value of a bovine carcass.
“For Tuscany, this sector means jobs, families, and communities. I am here in Brussels to defend it. Leather and hides must be excluded from Annex I of the EUDR. Not because we are against forest conservation, but because a good law must target those truly responsible for deforestation, not those who transform waste into a circular and durable material.”
– Dario Nardella, MEP, S&D Group
Industry leaders also warned of the risk of pushing European production outside the EU, disrupting global value chains and creating millions of tonnes of waste if hides and skins are not processed into leather.
“We have been explaining this for years: leather is not a driver of deforestation – the science is clear, from Pisa and many other studies. If implemented as it stands, the EUDR will not change deforestation – it will push European tanneries out of business, shift production elsewhere and accelerate consolidation where only large players survive. In the end, we risk losing SMEs, distorting markets, and exporting both production and impact outside Europe without solving the problem the regulation is meant to address.”
– Fabrizio Nuti, President, UNIC – Italian Tanneries
There is still no official confirmation of leather’s exclusion from the EUDR, but if confirmed, it would mark a significant win for the European leather industry.
