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.

Call for tender: National FLEGT Expert for Indonesia

The European Forest Institute has issued a call for tender for a National FLEGT Expert for Indonesia. The objective of the assignment is to support the Government of Indonesia (GoI) and the EU, represented by EU Delegation to Indonesia and the Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV) of the European Commission, in the licensing phase of the VPA.

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).

New briefing introduces the Chinese Timber Legality Verification System

The EU FLEGT Facility has published a briefing on the Chinese Timber Legality Verification System (CTLVS) and associated policies that China is developing to combat illegal logging and trade in illegal timber.