EU plan to hit illegal logging
said unclear, costly
Jeremy Smith , Reuters
Published: Monday, January 19, 2009
BRUSSELS - EU farm ministers on Monday broadly welcomed plans to crack down on the lucrative illegal timber trade by making exporters obtain licences to prove their wood does not come from endangered rainforests.
But many worried about the probable rise in costs and red tape, particularly for smaller timber operations, and several complained that the proposed new rules were just too unclear.
Greenpeace photographed illegal logging in the Bau Indigenous Land and the Amazonian Altamira National Forest in northern Brazil in August 2006.
The proposals, drafted by the EU's executive commission, would oblige importers to check the legality of timber products, to prevent shipments of wood that had been felled illegally. They would also apply to domestically produced timber.
EU countries are an important market for both legally and illegally harvested timber - the largest importers of plywood and sawnwood from Africa, the second largest from Asia, and a key market for Russia. Much of that wood is suspect.
Environmental groups say Europe imports 1.2 billion euros ($1.58 billion US) worth of illegally felled timber a year and the trade can lead to more forest fires and poaching.
Last year, the WWF estimated that nearly a fifth of the wood imported into the European Union is felled illegally or comes from suspect sources, mostly in Russia, Indonesia and China.
Many of the ministers taking the floor at the monthly meeting welcomed the EU plan for action against illegal logging but voiced concern about the cost, red tape and enforceability.
Sweden, the EU's single largest timber exporter with timber products accounting for 11 percent of its export revenue, said the Commission needed to do some more work.
"Many parts of the regulation are unclear," Swedish Agriculture Minister Eskil Erlandsson told the meeting. "The proposal and its consequences require more in-depth scrutiny."
"Good enforcement is essential if this proposal is to have any teeth. As it stands now ... it is insufficiently clear. Nor is it clear which activities should be regarded as breaches of the regulation," Dutch Agriculture Minister Gerda Verburg said.
Several countries were concerned about the extra costs the scheme would impose on their timber industries and importers.
Environment groups say the proposed rules are far too weak, and want an outright EU ban on the import and sale of illegally logged products - not just new rules that aim to reduce risks.
"EU member states must strengthen the Commission proposal if they want to ban illegal timber from the EU market," said Sebastien Risso, Greenpeace EU forest policy director.
"Weak legislation will only favour companies that break the law. it will drive responsible companies that source sustainable wood out of business," he said in a statement.
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