The compromise agreed last week between the European Parliament, the Spanish EU Presidency and the European Commission is a step towards ensuring that illegally harvested timber and wood products cannot be sold on the EU market. Some estimates suggest that 20-40% of global industrial wood production comes from illegal sources, with up to 20% ending up on the EU market. The agreement covers raw timber and wood products like furniture and floorboards, but exempts printed materials such as books and newspapers for at least five years. Whoever first places timber products on the EU market will be required to conduct a due diligence process, carrying out risk assessments where illegal activities are suspected, and ensuring they can trace the timber they use back to the country and place where it was harvested (recycled products are exempt). Other actors within the supply chain will only need to know who they have bought or sold to so that if there is a case of allegedly illegal timber, the first placer can be identified. Member states will also carry out checks on operators on a regular basis. “For years the EU has preached against illegal timber, a major driver of deforestation worldwide, but has hypocritically continued to provide one of the biggest markets for it,” said Finnish Green MEP Satu Hassi, who steered the legislation through Parliament. She added that she was “delighted” that the Parliament had managed to secure “fundamental improvements” to the new rules. One point on which the EU assembly prevailed was agreeing on fines and sanctions for companies who fail to adhere to the rules. Environmentalists, however, regretted the weakness of the sanctions as national capitals rejected a minimum framework of penalties which would be applied across Europe. Instead, it will be left to member states’ discretion how strict the penalties should be. Most member states backed the agreement, with the toughest opposition coming from Sweden and Portugal. The UK’s coalition government is committed to making the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offence. The legislation will now have to be formally endorsed by the Parliament, which is set to vote on the text in July. EU governments will approve it this autumn. If approved, it is scheduled to enter into force in 2012. “The world’s largest market is about to shut its gates to companies profiting from illegal trafficking and forest destruction. With this law, the black economy for wood products in Europe will be closed for business, levelling the playing field so companies are better able to act sustainably,” said Sebastien Risso, Greenpeace EU’s forest policy director. Timber Trade Federation Head of Sustainability Rachel Butler, who co-ordinated the UK trade response, said: ‘The Parliament put on the negotiating table some unworkable suggested amendments but ultimately it has always been clear from the start that one issue was the real point of debate – the inclusion of a prohibition. This has now been agreed and will only apply to the first placer and will mean that it is a criminal offence to place illegal timber on the EU market. However, the burden of proof will rest with the prosecution and illegality is defined by the country of harvest. ‘This is fantastic news for the industry and offers a great platform to build upon the environmental credentials of wood. It also represents a first in that the Government, NGO community and trade in the UK have all lobbied for the same position – a prohibition.” The TTF has made Due Diligence mandatory, and expects all members to be ready to meet this regulation. It will apply to the European Commission to become a monitoring organisation.
