Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is holding off on planned changes in coffee and cocoa markets to comply with the European Union’s deforestation regulation amid uncertainty over when the laws would take effect.
The EUDR, originally slated to be implemented at the end of 2024, is already facing a proposed one-year delay. The timing was further complicated on Thursday after the European Parliament asked for more changes to the laws.
That makes it “unclear at this time if the delay will be adopted or if the EUDR will enter into application” on Dec 30, ICE said in a Friday statement.
ICE is delaying its plan for coffee and cocoa contracts to the end of 2025 to “provide market participants with certainty” as to what products are being delivered against futures contracts, according to the release.
The postponement will take place regardless of whether the EUDR’s implementation is delayed by a year, ICE said.
The exchange’s plan for arabica and robusta coffee contracts, as well as London cocoa futures, included requirements to provide proof that supplies were EUDR-compliant, as well as the creation of a transition stock that would remain deliverable against futures contracts at a discount for a certain period of time.
