The UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) has published its latest briefing note on the implementation of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), which covers the period December 2019 to January 2020.
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A study conducted in Cameroon, Ghana and Indonesia, three countries at different stages of implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs), signed within the framework of the EU’s Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, showed that the VPA process contributed to significant improvements in various dimensions assessed.
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Under its Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union, Indonesia issues export licences attesting to the legality of its timber shipments to non-EU markets. These “V-Legal Documents” build on the same procedures followed in issuing Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licences to the EU market. China does not however currently recognise V-Legal Documents as proof of legality for timber and timber products that it imports from Indonesia.
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The European Commission has invited public feedback on EU action to tackle illegal logging - the harvesting of wood in contravention of the laws and regulations.
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The 7th Regional Training Workshop on Timber Legality Assurance took place from 19 to 21 November 2019 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Participants included representatives of nine member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan South Korea, the European Union, international organisations and the ASEAN Secretariat. They discussed their efforts to tackle illegal logging and its associated trade, and measures for trade in legal timber products.
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The EU FLEGT Facility has published a story reporting how law enforcement and continuous checks on operators are transforming business practices in Ghana’s timber sector. Companies are making noticeable improvements, in particular in relation to environmental and social obligations.
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- EU Timber Regulation
- Regulation (EU) No 995/2010, which lays down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market to counter the trade in illegally harvested timber and timber products. The European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) is one part of the EU’s FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) Action Plan which aims to reduce illegal logging worldwide. The EUTR makes it an offence to place for the first time illegally harvested timber and timber products onto the EU market. Furthermore, operators who place timber or timber products on the market for the first time must have due diligence system to mitigate the risk that this timber has been illegally harvested. The EU Timber Regulation entered into force on 3rd March 2013 and it is directly applicable in all EU member states.
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- VPA partner country
- Any timber exporting country that enters into negotiations to conclude a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union.
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- Supply chain
- A timber supply chain is a system of organisations, people, technology, activities, information and resources that move and transform timber and timber products from the point of harvest or import to its final sale.
