Tougher legislation called for to combat the threat of illegal timber on EU market
Monday, 23 February 2009 16:59 | 
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A draft report by Green MEP and GLOBE EU member Caroline Lucas has been unanimously adopted by the environment Committee on 17 February (51 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention). The ambition of the adopted report goes beyond that of the Commission proposal, as it includes biomass among the timber products for which responsibility is to be shared by all operators on the timber supply side, in order to eliminate the risk of introducing illegally harvested timber and timber products in the EU market. The Committee is calling for tougher legislation on illegal timber and timber products sold on the EU market, a practise which the Committee says is the main cause of deforestation.
Given that it is estimated that 20-40% of global industrial wood production comes from illegal sources, the motivation for tougher legislation at EU level is clear. As a result MEPs aim to ensure all operators on the supply side of the market should ‘share the responsibility for eliminating the risk of introducing illegally harvested timber and timber products’ according to the agreement. Responsibility should therefore extend beyond those putting timber products on the EU market for the first time and should apply to all products that contain illegally sourced timber including for biomass, contrary to the original Commission proposal.
Committee members have also approved plans to impose financial penalties, decided at the Member State level, on illegal timber suppliers, reflecting the level of environmental and economic damage caused. Although no specific figures are mentioned, the report recommends that the penalties be ‘at least five times the value of the timber products obtained by committing a serious infringement’, increasing when repeat infringements are committed.
In order to reduce the risk of illegally sourced timber entering the market, a ‘due-diligence system’ has also been approved by MEPs and would only apply to operators bringing timber onto the market for the first time. Through the better provision of basic information about the source of timber, the Committee hopes timber traceability will be improved, while it also urges greater monitoring of the sector with ‘immediate corrective measures’ in place when laws are broken.
In addition a separate ‘high-risk’, extra due-diligence system should be created, in which ‘countries where there is consistent and reliable information regarding significant failures of forest law governance’ should be categorised.
Reaction to the report and its adoption has had a positive reception by environmental groups and industry alike. WWF called the vote a ‘milestone’ in preventing deforestation, while timber industry association CEI Bois, welcomed efforts to combat the problem of illegal timber. The latter did however reserve a note of caution for the outcome, saying that the amendments proposed by the Committee, may be particularly burdensome for the wood processing sector which consists of mainly small enterprises.
Given that it is estimated that 20-40% of global industrial wood production comes from illegal sources, the motivation for tougher legislation at EU level is clear. As a result MEPs aim to ensure all operators on the supply side of the market should ‘share the responsibility for eliminating the risk of introducing illegally harvested timber and timber products’ according to the agreement. Responsibility should therefore extend beyond those putting timber products on the EU market for the first time and should apply to all products that contain illegally sourced timber including for biomass, contrary to the original Commission proposal.
Committee members have also approved plans to impose financial penalties, decided at the Member State level, on illegal timber suppliers, reflecting the level of environmental and economic damage caused. Although no specific figures are mentioned, the report recommends that the penalties be ‘at least five times the value of the timber products obtained by committing a serious infringement’, increasing when repeat infringements are committed.
In order to reduce the risk of illegally sourced timber entering the market, a ‘due-diligence system’ has also been approved by MEPs and would only apply to operators bringing timber onto the market for the first time. Through the better provision of basic information about the source of timber, the Committee hopes timber traceability will be improved, while it also urges greater monitoring of the sector with ‘immediate corrective measures’ in place when laws are broken.
In addition a separate ‘high-risk’, extra due-diligence system should be created, in which ‘countries where there is consistent and reliable information regarding significant failures of forest law governance’ should be categorised.
Reaction to the report and its adoption has had a positive reception by environmental groups and industry alike. WWF called the vote a ‘milestone’ in preventing deforestation, while timber industry association CEI Bois, welcomed efforts to combat the problem of illegal timber. The latter did however reserve a note of caution for the outcome, saying that the amendments proposed by the Committee, may be particularly burdensome for the wood processing sector which consists of mainly small enterprises.
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