TOKYO — Japanese trading house Itochu plans to launch a tracking system to help Southeast Asia’s rubber farmers cope with a European Union anti-deforestation law that will soon come into force, potentially easing the pressure on smallholder producers.
Itochu will set up a new company, called Project Tree Indonesia, to deploy a track and trace system. This will allow manufacturers of tires, which use about 70% of the natural rubber produced worldwide, to determine whether the rubber used in their products is compliant with the EU’s deforestation regulation (EUDR).
