EUTR News – September to November 2017

This issue of the EUTR News provides an update on the operation of the EU’s law to address illegal logging, the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), from September to November 2017. As with all of our previous editions, this issue will include information on what both the European Commission and EU Member States are doing to ensure the proper application of the EUTR, and provide updates on similar legislation internationally.

Indonesia and EU celebrate one year of certified legal timber trade

Indonesia and the EU have held a conference to celebrate the first anniversary of the scheme licensing certified legal timber products that Indonesia exports to the EU. Since the start of FLEGT licensing, named after the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan, Indonesia has shipped certified legal timber products worth more than EUR 1 billion to the EU to operators in all 28 EU Member States.

Cameroon and the EU release 2016 annual report on VPA progress

Cameroon and the EU have released a joint report on progress in implementing the Voluntary Partnership Agreement in 2016. The report describes progress made with the timber legality assurance system, institutional improvements, stakeholder engagement, communication, transparency and monitoring of the agreement.

New regulations in Ghana important milestone for full VPA implementation

New regulations enacted by Ghana on 3 November 2017 address entrenched forest governance challenges and are an important milestone on the road to the full implementation of the country’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the European Union (EU).

Indonesia shipped verified legal timber worth more than 1 billion euros to EU in first year of FLEGT licensing

Indonesia has shipped verified legal timber and timber products worth more than 1 billion euros to the EU since it began issuing such products with FLEGT licences one year ago.

ClientEarth compares illegal logging laws of the EU, the US, Australia and Japan

ClientEarth has published a table of information on the laws in force in Australia, the European Union (EU), Japan and the United States (US) to restrict or prevent access of illegally-harvested timber to their markets.

Paper analyses VPA implementation in Indonesia and Ghana

A new paper in the journal Regulation & Governance analyses the implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) in Indonesia and Ghana under the European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan.

World Wood-Based Panels Conference addresses timber legality

The legality of timber and timber products was a recurrent theme at the Fourth World Wood-Based Panels Conference that took place from 22-23 September 2017, in Linyi, China. The China National Forest Products Industry Association (CNFPIA) formally released China’s timber legality verification standard at the opening of the Conference. This voluntary standard sets out the requirements for timber legality for CNFPIA member companies.

Members of the European Parliament praise the VPA process in Honduras

When Members of the European Parliament visited Honduras in September 2017, they were impressed with the unity of purpose with which diverse stakeholders are working together to address illegal logging, through the Voluntary Partnership Agreement or VPA Honduras is negotiating with the EU.

Briefing compares Japan’s Clean Wood Act with the EU Timber Regulation

The EU FLEGT Facility has published a briefing that compares two regulatory approaches that aim to prevent trade in illegally-harvested timber and timber products: Japan’s Clean Wood Act and the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR).