It seems more realistic to ban the import of agricultural products from illegal deforestation, and to modulate tariffs according to the information and guarantees that importers provide to ensure that their production can be certified as “zero deforestation”. These certifications would be accredited by public authorities and would be subject to an ongoing assessment process.

Switzerland has just paved the way with an agreement with Indonesia to lower tariffs by 20% and then 40% for palm oil certified to three approved standards.

In all cases, importers will have to comply with the legal obligation of due diligence to ensure that an imported product is not associated with illegal land conversion.