EU version of Lacey Act aimed at illegal timber harvests

EU version of Lacey Act aimed at illegal timber harvests The European Commission has proposed legislation that would require international traders to verify that wood used in imported or exported merchandise is legally obtained.
   Under the measure, companies would have to prove they took sufficient precautions, including tracking shipments, to minimize the risk of buying or selling illegally harvested timber and timber products.
   According to a notice published by the European Union’s policymaking and executive body earlier this month, about 19 percent of wood imports come from trees that were illegally harvested, resulting in environmental damage and lost revenues for governments.
   The proposed legislation follows the establishment in the United States this year of amendments to the Lacey Act that increases penalties for trade in products containing wood harvested in violation of national forestry laws anywhere in the world. As part of the enforcement effort, importers are required to file new documentation identifying the scientific name and species of any wood or plant material contained in a product, as well as the country of harvest.
   U.S. regulators recently announced their intention to relax implementation rules until an electronic filing system and better guidelines on wood byproducts are developed.
   The EU proposal is intended to meet its goal of halting the loss of global forest cover by 2030 at the latest and halving tropical deforestation by 2020.
   “We must also send a firm message to timber suppliers that illegal timber or timber products will not be tolerated on the EU market,” Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said in a statement.
   The full text of the proposed EU legislation can be found at ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/proposal_illegal_logging.pdf ' Eric Kulisch