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.

Collaboration en RCA pour la transparence forestière

Une mission d’observation indépendante effectuée en République Centrafricaine fait partie des actions menées dans le pays dans le cadre du Plan d’action sur l’application des règlementations forestières, la gouvernance et les échanges commerciaux (FLEGT) de l’Union européenne (UE). Comprenant des membres de la société civile ainsi que des fonctionnaires de l’État, les activités de cette mission ont amorcé un processus de reprise de confiance et de restauration de la crédibilité du secteur.

Collaboration in CAR for transparency in the forest sector

A mandated independent observation project carried out in the Central African Republic is one of the actions initiated in the country as part of the European Union (EU) Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). By involving members of civil society and Government officials, the project has triggered a revival of confidence and credibility within the forest sector.

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.

Call for tender: Facilitation services for FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements in Ghana, Liberia, Republic of the Congo and Guyana

The European Forest Institute has issued a call Facilitation services for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreements in Ghana, Liberia, Republic of the Congo, Guyana. The objective of the assignment is that an international service provider will provide a FLEGT facilitation service in four VPA partner countries which are Ghana, Liberia, Republic of the Congo and Guyana in a format of a Facilitation Unit.