This is an Outermost Region of the EU, even if it is part of France. All sorts of special rules apply to those, for good reasons.
Under the proposed change, French Guiana could trade EUDR-covered products with neighbouring Brazil without the regulation applying, despite being part of the EU.
Products produced and consumed in French Guiana would also fall outside the regulation’s scope, while goods shipped from the French region to the rest of the EU would still have to comply with it.
So, if I get this right, it enables Guiana to compete and trade in the region which is certainly a good thing. But it would be better if Brazil (and all the others) would strengthen their environmental laws to the high EU standards.
My take-away is that this is a bad choice for nature/climate-change/human rights, but a good choice for Guiana and it’s people. I’d argue the people of Guiana deserve affordable goods, but shame on France that this is the way. They should have done better and have found a way to lift the average income. Alas, colonization and imperialism is often a one-way street. All we can hope for now this exception won’t become a loophole that undermines the system we’ve put up.
Good luck with that