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EU trade initiative on Illegal logging
Illegal logging was first raised as a serious international problem in 1998 in the G8 foreign ministers' 'Action Programme on Forests'. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, the European Commission set out a strong commitment to combat illegal logging and the associated trade. To convert this commitment into actions on the ground, the European Commission presented an Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) in May 2003.
The core of the FLEGT Action Plan is the implementation of a legality licence scheme through Voluntary Partnership Agreements. The proposed measures will be based on voluntary, bilateral agreements between the EU and supplying wood-producing countries. The agreements will address financial and technical support for strengthened governance in the producing countries through to implementation of the licensing system. Partner countries would need to agree a definition of legality and develop a credible legal and administrative structure to verify that exported timber is legal according to national laws. The proposal covers logs, sawn wood, veneer sheets and plywood.
Further to the licensing scheme, the EC's Action Plan identified the following areas where the Europan Community or individual member states can take action: Developing robust public procurement policies for timber products; promoting private sector initiatives that encourage companies to use voluntary codes of practice for harvesting and timber purchasing; including environmental and social criteria in publicly funded financial institutions project screenings (ensuring that public money does not promote illegal forest sector activities); examining possibilities to apply existing criminal legislation, such as legislation regarding money-laundering or bribery, to the proceeds of crime related to illegal logging.
Documents
FLEGT Council Regulation (July 2004)
FLEGT briefing sheets
TTF Position Paper on the EU Illegal Logging Action Plan
FLEGT Extended Impact Assessment - home
FLEGT Extended Impact Assessment - background
FLEGT Extended Impact Assessment - questionnaire
TTF Response to Extended Impact Assessment
NGO response letter to FLEGT Illegal Logging and the TTF Short report on the TTF trip to Japan
Links
European Commission FLEGT website
World Bank Forest Governance
Royal Institute of International Affairs; FLEGT documents, events, news
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