The new EU Deforestation Regulation "should" use existing data sources for monitoring instead of implementing a new system, according to chair of the livestock committee for the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA), Michael O’Connell.

The comments come after the EU Commission made the decision to delay the implementation for the law to ensure "proper and effective implementation".

O'Connell welcomed the delay, but said that the decision "would have to be re-visited" to look at the sources of data.

Since the system’s pilot testing with 100 companies conducted in January, the Commission put in place several additional measures, including creating a single point of contact for IT support for stakeholders.

It also allowed for development of an interface that allows machine-to-machine connections to the system.

O'Connell said that the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS), which effectively specifies the use of land, should be used.

"Why would we even contemplate yet another new system – with all the GPS and due diligence ‘palaver’ – when the existing area aid maps already provide the exact same information?

"It’s just ridiculous and adds yet another layer of useless and expensive bureaucracy to what is already a system that is groaning under the weight of superfluous regulation and processing," O'Connell said.

The ICMSA livestock chair said that the introduction of new systems was an example of "mindless regulatory repetition”.

“A directive that should ensure that food products from deforested areas would not reach the EU consumer has been turned on its head and is now being repurposed into yet another administrative burden for Irish farmers.

"The reality is that Irish food is being produced on land that is demonstrably not under the Deforestation requirements and we should not be required to implement a new expensive and burdensome system to verify this," O'Connell said.

O’Connell said that EU should also specify how third country imports will work to meet the requirements of the law "on a practical level".