Is the EU logged-on to illegal wood trade?

Date: 28/05/03

By Karen Carstens

THE European Commission has been accused of putting trade interests before ethical concerns by failing to impose an outright ban on imports of illegally- logged wood.

Campaigners say an action plan unveiled last week by the EU executive, aimed at discouraging illegal logging, does not go far enough.

"It is disgraceful that the EU will continue to launder illegal forest products while deforestation and the abuse of forest peoples' rights will continue unchallenged," said Chantal Marijnissen, trade policy officer for forest conservation group Fern.

While acknowledging that the action plan included positive moves, she argued that the lack of a ban proved that trade interests were the Commission's chief priority.

But both Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström and her development counterpart Poul Nielson insisted that the Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), endorsed by the College at its weekly meeting last Wednesday (21 May), was a crucial first step in helping governments to address the problem at source.

"Combating illegal logging and related trade is something we committed ourselves to at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development," said Wallström. "This action plan is further evidence of our determination to move from words to deeds."

Nielson echoed that, adding: "The European Commission is committed to combating illegal logging, by helping to improve law enforcement and governance in wood-producing countries, and by working to stop the trade in illegally harvested wood and wood products."

Wallström met Lim Keng Yaik, the Malaysian minister for primary industries, on Monday (26 May) to discuss the action plan - the first such official measure taken by the Commission.

It includes a proposal for a licensing scheme based on voluntary agreements between the EU and partner countries and allocates Union funds to help governments get the system up and running.

Indonesia, which has already received €120 million in EU funding to fight illegal logging, is often cited as one of the world's leading sources of outlawed timber, along with Cambodia and several central African nations. Last July, Indonesia banned the export of logs and Malaysia responded by banning imports of Indonesian logs.

However, it is far from clear whether the bans have been effective.

The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency uncovered, in April, a shipment of Indonesian logs being smuggled into a Malay port.

Under the Commission action plan, the onus for verifying the legality of timber is mostly on the source nations, although it does threaten legislation to control imports of illegally logged wood into the EU.

One Commission official told European Voice that the EU executive is working on a proposal for a total ban, due to be unveiled by the end of 2004.

The action plan, he said, is about "trying to get a balanced approach between developing countries' legitimate concerns about being frozen out of markets, and creating a more legal and sustainable foundation for the international timber trade".

Its hands were partly tied, he indicated, because there is no multinational treaty on illegal logging and timber smuggling.

"This goes back to 1992, when several countries blocked such an agreement at the Rio Earth Summit," the official explained.

He added that the idea would be addressed again by the 'UN Forum on Forests' which started on Monday (26 May) in Geneva, and runs until 6 June.

The official voiced the hope that such a treaty could be in place by 2005.

Fern spokeswoman Jessica Wenban-Smith argued that the Commission action plan, developed jointly by several directorates, was watered down by DG Trade because it feared a full-blown ban would fall foul of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules aimed at promoting free trade.

"But illegal logging in itself distorts WTO rules," she said, suggesting that one explanation for the cautious approach taken by EU trade officials may have been because "they are trying to seek a free trade agreement with ASEAN [Association of South-East Asian Nations] countries".

The Commission official, however, insisted that its concerns stemmed more from EU tax and customs officers worried about how such a ban would be enforced in practice.

"If a ship docks in Antwerp and is full of illegal wood, its illegality must be proven in a court in the country of origin," he said, which throws up "workability concerns for the people who would have to implement it".

"It's a difficult subject," he added. "The tropical countries feel defensive if we criticize their governments and we don't want to unfairly punish countries where no illegal logging is known to occur."

But Wenban-Smith said European imports of illegally logged timber - valued at €1.2 billion annually - are tacitly supporting this trade.

"This wood is right here in the EU and we do nothing about it," she said.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that global trade in timber is worth more than €128 billion annually.

The EU is the world's largest importer, with Fern estimates suggesting that as much as 50 of wood products coming in from southern countries are illegal.

It reckons 20 of timber products imported from eastern Europe and Russia are also the result of illegal logging.

What is illegal logging?

ILLEGAL logging takes place when timber is harvested, transported, bought or sold in violation of national laws. Unlawful harvesting can be the result of extraction without permission, the cutting of protected species, extraction in excess of agreed limits, or where teams have gained access to forests by unlawful or corrupt means.

Illegalities may also occur during transportation, such as unlawful processing and export, mis-declaration to customs, and the avoidance of taxes and other charges. What is legal and what is not, however, is not always easy to establish.

The European Commission has been criticised for failing to impose a ban on illegally-logged wood.