Timber exporting countries around the world are being urged by the European Commission to support a voluntary licensing system in a bid to clean up the trade in illegal forest products.
The proposal is contained in the commission’s long-awaited Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, published on May 21. South-east Asia, South America, central Africa and Russia will be targeted by the plan.
Countries or regions signing up to the voluntary scheme must prove that timber exported to the EU is from legal sources, otherwise shipments will not be accepted. The commission believes it could lead to a global agreement on forest trading.
The plan also sets out support for improved governance in wood-producing countries and efforts to develop international collaboration for combatting the trade in illegally harvested timber.
It also proposes a public procurement policy for guiding authorities on specifying legal timber; measures to prevent investment in activities which encourage illegal logging; and private sector initiatives for good practice in the forest sector.
FERN (Forests and the European Union Resource Network) welcomed the voluntary licensing scheme but said the commission failed to ban the import of illegal logs into the EU.
