Developing countries are concerned that the EU's green ambitions are being used to stop them gaining access to the trade bloc.

The pursuit for carbon neutrality and sustainable food production could also land on poorer nations who will struggle to undertake the promises made by European producers. The EU’s flagship Green Deal, which aims to be carbon neutral by 2050; its Farm to Fork vision; and deforestation ban are now being translated into legislation – this is worrying developing nations which may find themselves locked out of the market.

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Indonesia warned that the EU that it should not mandate green standards on countries in South East Asia. Its president, Joko Widodo, told EU leaders at an EU-ASEAN summit last month that ‘there must be no coercion, no more parties who always dictate and assume that my standards are better than yours.’

Malaysia had also threatened to stop exports of palm oil to the EU over new rules aimed at fighting deforestation. One diplomat from a third country told media in Brussels that the EU was mishandling the power of their single market, instead of respecting the sovereignty of its trading partners.

Philippe De Baere, managing partner at law firm, Van Bael and Bellis, said: “We see a regulatory imperialism by the EU whereby Brussels sees itself as an exporter of rules to third countries – as the legislators of the world.”

The Green Deal is going beyond turning EU rules into global standards and could force environmental standards onto developing nations. Mr De Baere claimed the EU was 'drunk on its success' and many developing nations would be unable to comply economically, or do so with an enormous economic cost.

One of the key challenges is the implementation of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM). This would see imports of carbon intensive products haver to buy permits to account for the difference between their domestic carbon price and the price paid by EU producers.

The aim is to set a level playing field for EU producers and prevent companies moving production to nations with lower climate standards. Moving production abroad is a key concern for the EU’s beef sector. However, Brazil, South Africa, India and China have all stated that this border adjustment is discriminatory and likely to be challenged at the World Trade Organization.

Mohammed Chahim, a Dutch MEP who helped craft the CBAM, said the measure should be offset by the delivery of tens of billions in annual public financing promised for climate projects in the developing world.

The EU’s Farm to Fork strategy seeks to slash pesticide use in half by 2030 and aims to ban imported products containing residues of neonicotinoid insecticides from 2026. These rules are likely to hit smaller third country farmers hard.

It also plans make it illegal to sell or export certain commodities if they’ve been produced on deforested land. However, one third-country diplomat said it was easy for the EU to take a stand on deforestation in the developing world, having already deforested its own land in the past.