Amendments to the US Lacey Act which make it an offence to import, trade or sell illegally harvested timber and wood products have been passed as part of the Farm Bill.
The Farm Bill was appproved by Congress and the Senate on May 15 and included Lacey Act amendments based on the Combat Illegal Logging Act tabled by Senator Ron Wyden.
These extend the established Lacey Act to include timber and wood products, alongside the sale and trade of fish, wildlife and other plants.
It now passes to the White House for signing by President Bush, after securing overwhelming support in both houses.
“The illegal logging provision represents hundreds of hours of collective work by an unprecedented coalition of industry, labour and environmental groups,” said Senator Wyden.
