Malaysian Rubber Board Initiatives Toward EUDR Compliance

The EU Regulation on Deforestation‐Free Products (EUDR), effective from June 29, 2023, aims to ensure that imported goods into the European Union (EU) are not linked to deforestation or forest degradation. The regulation, which replaces the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), sets a cut‐off date of December 31, 2020, and emphasizes due diligence, including tracking the geographical coordinates of production sites. In response, the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) developed the Malaysian Sustainable Natural Rubber (MSNR) framework, aligned with the EUDR. Governed under the MRB Act 1996 (Act 551), MSNR focuses on five principles: no deforestation for new rubber cultivation, compliance with national land code, environmental sustainability, social compliance, and supply chain traceability. MSNR incorporates the same deforestation cut‐off date as EUDR and requires recording the geographic coordinates of all rubber plantations in Malaysia, regardless of size, ensuring broader traceability. The EUDR's country benchmarking system will assess Malaysia's deforestation risk based on environmental and economic sustainability. As Malaysia's primary rubber export to the EU is natural rubber gloves, which are largely made from raw materials sourced from Thailand, the country's risk status will be influenced by Thailand's deforestation benchmarks. This highlights the complexity of Malaysia's rubber industry and its commitment to sustainable practices.