Forest and illegal logging
News (update April 2011)
- 15-17/03/2011 Fifth negotiation session with Liberia
- 15-17/02/2011 First negotiation session with DRC
- 19/01/11 Consents of the European Parliament to the conclusion of the FLEGT agreements with Congo and with Cameroon
- 12-14/01/11 FLEGT 6th Annual Coordination meeting (Final Report , Final Projects Handbook )
- 21/12/10 Initialing of the FLEGT agreement with the Central African Republic
- 24/09/10 1st round of negotiations with Gabon
Illegal logging – issues
A major problem for many timber-producing developing countries, illegal logging:
- causes environmental damage
- costs governments billions of dollars in lost revenue
- promotes corruption
- undermines the rule of law and good governance
- and in some places has financed armed conflict.
Consumer countries contribute to these problems by importing timber and wood products without ensuring they are legally sourced.
In recent years, however, producer and consumer countries alike have paid increasing attention to illegal logging.
EU response – FLEGT action plan
The FLEGT action plan – adopted in 2003 – combines measures in producer and consumer countries to facilitate trade in legal timber and eliminate illegal timber trading with the EU, through measures such as:
- support for timber–producing countries
- activities to promote trade in legal timber
- promoting ethical public procurement policies FLEGT licensed timber and EU Member State Procurement Policies
- support for private-sector initiatives to promote corporate social responsibility
- safeguards for financing and investment
- use of existing legislative instruments or adoption of new laws to support the plan
- addressing the problem of conflict timber.
Commission action: voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs)
A VPA is a WTO-compatible trade agreement between a producer country and the EU to work together to stop illegal logging.
Although voluntary, VPAs are legally-binding on the 2 parties, once agreed.
Goals of VPAs
- policy and legal reform
- governance and transparency
- capacity building
- improve control, track & verify legal compliance
- better capture revenues and rents
- secure & improve market share
VPAs incorporate a national legality assurance system that:
- defines what constitutes legal timber
- verifies compliance with this definition
- traces products from forest to export
- licenses exports, to provide assurance to markets
- independently checks all elements of the system
In each country, the VPA will need to take account of the inherent national differences in forest governance issues, forest-related legislation, the nature of forest and land rights, the nature of timber trade, current forest sector initiatives and the capacity to implement agreements.
In some developing countries, meeting these commitments will require considerable institutional strengthening and capacity building. VPAs will identify areas where there is a need for technical and financial assistance.
Series of briefing notes explain the EU's expectations for Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs):
- What is a Voluntary Partnership Agreement ? The European Union approach - briefing nr 3 (2009)
- Forest Law, Enforcement and Trade : the European Union approach – briefing nr 2 (2008)
- What is FLEGT?
- What is legal timber?
- A timber legality assurance system
- Control of the supply chain
- Legality assurance systems: requirements for verification
- Voluntary Partnership Agreements
- Guidelines for independent monitoring
Countries with VPAs
- Ghana ( latest press release, September 2008 / Ghana VPA, November 2009 / VPA July 2011)
- Republic of Congo ( latest press release, May 2009 )
- Cameroon ( Conclusions of negotiations - 6 May 2010 , Information note )
- Central African Republic ( Information Note )
The agreements are being ratified and the legality assurance systems developed.
First FLEGT licence expected by 2011.
Countries currently negotiating
- Liberia: The 5th negotiation session, March 2011
- Republic Democratic of Congo ( Signed joint declaration / First negotiation session 15-17/02/2011 , Negotiation roadmap )
- Gabon: Summary of the 1st negotiation session / Common declaration for FLEGT negotiations opening
Lessons learnt from negotiations
- Negotiations provide a platform to address difficult forest governance issues, clarify legal framework and improve technical systems
- Time-bound, output-oriented stakeholder engagement helps foster understanding between stakeholders and make major, practical changes to VPAs
- Bilateral negotiation dynamic can help build country ownership of results
- EU regulation 2173/2005 for FLEGT licensing scheme (OJ L347 of 30 December 2005 )
- Implementation rules - FLEGT licensing of timber imports to EU (2008)
Due diligence for timber products
Action is needed to tackle timber trade with countries that have not signed VPAs, since the FLEGT licensing scheme doesn’t deal directly with this.
To further support FLEGT, the Commission and EU governments have examined other options.
A public consultation canvassed views on how to combat illegal logging and especially prevent the EU being a market for such timber.
A new regulation (2010)
The European Parliament and the Council have adopted a new regulation: Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market. (OJ L295/23 of 12 November 2010 )
This regulation introduces 3 obligations:
- Prohibition of placing illegal timber on the EU market
- Use of Due Diligence systems to ascertain that products are legal
- Apply traceability systems
Timber from VPA countries will be considered legal, and traders will not have to implement specific due diligence measures. This provides an incentive for timber-producing countries to sign VPAs.
Regional forest law enforcement
Regional initiatives have led to ministerial declarations in:
There are also regional processes in:
- Central Africa (COMIFAC) and (OFAC)
- Caribbean and Latin America (Puembo initiative)
- East Africa (2005 - EAC protocol on Environment and natural resources management article 11 )
Those processes have created political support for forest governance reform initiatives linking producer and consumer countries, and in some cases have led to voluntary partnership agreements.
Regional timber studies
- Central Africa - cross-border timber flows in COMIFAC (2008) ( Summary , full report annexes )
- West Africa - timber flows between Guinea and Nigeria (2008) ( final report
Commission action: support to FLEGT projects
Activities to implement the FLEGT action plan are financed through:
European Development Fund
- FLEGT-related projects or support programmes under national indicative programmes (in Ghana, Cameroon, Congo, Indonesia...)
- FLEGT support project for ACP countries (managed by FAO)
EU environment and natural resources programme (development aid)
- EFI FLEGT facility (European Forest Institute)
- Numerous forest governance pilot projects with NGOs and private associations
(covering advocacy and capacity building, support for private sector, support for FLEGT processes, research and analytical forest governance projects) 6th annual coordination meeting 12-14/01/2011
- European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument
FLEGT & climate change (REDD)
Tropical deforestation and forest degradation are responsible for almost 20% of global carbon emissions. In the framework of the Climate negotiations, REDD stands for "reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation". Some REDD actions support necessary policy and governance reforms.
Sources of additional information on external websites: