Controlling illegal logging and the trade in illegally harvested timber: The EU's forest law enforcement, governance and trade initiative

Review of European Community and International Environmental Law

Volumn 14, Issue 1, 2005, Pages 28-38

  Brack, Duncan ^a  

^a ROYAL INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEFORESTATION; LAW ENFORCEMENT; LOGGING (TIMBER); TIMBER HARVESTING; TIMBER TRADE;

EASTERN HEMISPHERE; EURASIA; EUROPE; WORLD;

EID: 20744449164     PISSN: 09628797     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9388.2005.00421.x     Document Type: Article

References (68)

1. Hiroyuki Ishi, 'We Must Stop Deforestation by Human Beings and Implementing Forest Conservation', JICA Network - Going Green (July 1999), found at .
2. A. Contreras-Hermosilla, Law Compliance in the Forestry Sector: An Overview (World Bank Institute, 2002), at 1-6.
3. Ibid., at 5.
4. For more information, see D. Brack and G. Hayman, Intergrovernmental Actions on Illegal Logging (Chatham House, 2001), available at . The website , maintained by Chatham House, provides a central point of information on all aspects of the current international debate around the control of illegal logging and forest crimes.
5. Taken from D. Brack and G. Hayman, Intergovernmental Actions on Illegal Logging (Royal Institute of International Affairs, March 2001), available at . For a more extensive discussion.
6. see D. Callister, Corrupt and Illegal Activities in the Forest Sector: Current Understandings and Implications for World Bank Forest Policy: Draft for Discussion (World Bank Forest Policy Implementation and Strategy Development Group, May 1999).
7. Indonesia UK Tropical Forestry Management Programme, Illegal Logging in Indonesia, ITFMP Report No. EC/99/03 (Indonesia UK Tropical Forestry Management Programme, 1999).
8. N. Scotland and S. Ludwig, 'Deforestation, the timber trade and illegal logging', paper for EC workshop on Forest Law, Enforcement, Governance and Trade (Brussels, 22-24 April 2002).
9. I b i d.
10. Global Witness, The Untouchables: Forest Crimes and the Concessionaires - Can Cambodia Afford to Keep Them? (Global Witness, 1999).
11. D. Callister, Illegal Tropical Timber Trade: Asia-Pacific (TRAFFIC International, 1992).
12. Global Witness, Going Places... Cambodia's Future on the Move (Global Witness, March 1998), section 10.
13. UN Security Council Resolution 1478 (2003), para. 17.
14. Primorsky Regional Administration, cited in Bureau for Regional Oriental Campaigns, Friends of the Earth and Pacific Environment and Resources Centre, Plundering Russia's Far Eastern Taiga: Illegal Logging, Corruption and Trade (Bureau for Regional Oriental Campaigns, 2000), at 16.
15. See A. Contreras-Hermosilla, n. 2 above, at 4-5.
16. A.G. Blundell, Mahogany: Unregulated Trade (US EPA, 2000).
17. World Bank, Forest Sector Review (World Bank, 1999), at 40.
18. American Forest and Paper Association, Seneca Creek Associates and Wood Resources International, Illegal Logging and Global Wood Markets: The Competitive impacts on the US Wood Products Industry (November 2004), available at .
19. G8 Action Programme on Forests (G8 Foreign Ministers Meeting, May 1998), available at .
20. East Asia FLEG Declaration (Bali, 13 September 2001), available at ; and AFLEG Declaration (Yaoundé, 16 October 2003), available at .
21. He was then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development.
22. H. Benn, 'Forest Law Enforcement: What is to be done?', speech to the East Asia FLEG Conference (13 September 2001).
23. See East Asia FLEG Declaration, n. 19 above, Annex.
24. (London, 18 April, 2002), found at .
25. Indonesia-UK Memorandum of Understanding on Illegal Logging: Summary Action Plan (9 August 2002), available at .
26. For a summary of activities, see Department for International Development, The UK's Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Programme (DFID, undated), available at .
27. Letter of Intent - Cooperation to Improve Forest Law-making and Law Enforcement to Combat Illegal Logging (Johannesburg, 30 August 2002), available at .
28. Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the People's Republic of China Concerning Cooperation in Combating Illegal Trade of Forest Products (Beijing, 18 December 2002), available at .
29. Joint Announcement on the Cooperation in Combating Illegal Logging and the Trade in Illegally Logged Timber and Wood Products between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia (Tokyo, 24 June 2003), available at .
30. Ministry of Forestry Forestry Information Center, Indonesia and Korea Signed Cooperation in Combating Illegal Timber Trade and in Development of Sister Park, Press Release Number: 984/II/PIK-1/2003 (22 August 2003), available at . Korea Signed Cooperation in Combating Illegal Timber Trade and in Development of Sister Park, Press Release Number: 984/II/PIK-1/2003 (22 August 2003), available at .
31. G8 Action Programme on Forests: Backgrounders 2002 (2002), at 13, available at .
32. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 21 May 2003, Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT): Proposal for an EU Action Plan, COM (2003) 251 (hereinafter FLEGT Action Plan), available at .
33. See the letter from the Chairman of the Industry External Trade and Research Committee of the European Parliament to the President of the European Parliament (3 March 2004), available at . .
34. Source: I.J. Bourke and J. Leitch, Trade Restrictions and Their Impact on International Trade in Forest Products (FAO, 2000), available at .
35. Source: Friends of the Earth briefing, 'European League Table of Imports of Illegal Tropical Timber' (Friends of the Earth, August 2001), available at .
36. See National Forest Act 1984, as amended.
37. See, for example, Environmental Investigation Agency, Profiting from Plunder: How Malaysia Smuggles Endangered Wood (EIA, undated), available at .
38. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (Washington, 3 March 1973).
39. See Interlaken Declaration on the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme for Rough Diamonds (Interlaken, 5 November 2002). For information on the Kimberley Process, see .
40. Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Canberra, 20 May 1980).
41. For a summary of these, and an analysis of the practical requirements of the licensing scheme, see D. Brack, A Licensing System for Legal Timber: Options and Considerations for a Legality Licensing System Under the EU FLEGT Action Plan (Chatham House, November 2004), available at .
42. See E. Fripp, FLEGT and Trade: What Will the Impacts Be? (Chatham House, November 2004), available at , and European Commission, Proposal for a Council Regulation concerning the establishment of a voluntary FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Community. Extended Impact Assessment (July 2004), available at .
43. European Commission, Proposal for a Council Regulation of July 2004 for the establishment of a voluntary FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Community, COM (2004) 515, available at .
44. One of the questions still to be resolved is what the legal base of the regulation will be. If the Commission's initial proposal in the draft regulation, of Article 133 (which deals with trade), is retained, the Parliament will not be required to agree it as well, but several Member States are arguing for a different legal base.
45. For more discussion, see ERM, Feasibility of and Best Options for Systems for the Identification, Verification, Licensing/Certification and Tracking of Legality of Timber and Related Products for Imports into the EU (May 2003), available at .
46. See, for example, the section on illegal logging in FERN, EU Forest Watch (October 2004), available at .
47. See European Commission, n. 42, above.
48. Although it is not completely inconceivable: for a longer discussion, see D. Brack, WTO Implications of an International Timber Licensing Scheme (Chatham House, March 2003), available at .
49. See Bilateral Cooperation between Japan and Indonesia in Combating Illegal Logging: Communication from Japan (WT/CTENV/233, 22 October 2003), available online at .
50. See FLEGT Action Plan, n. 31 above, section 4.2.4.
51. A brief analysis of relevant legislation in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK is included in D. Brack, C. Marijnissen and S. Ozinga, Controlling Imports of Illegal Timber. Options for Europe (FERN and Chatham House, 2002), available at .
52. D. Brack, Illegal Logging and Money Laundering: Analysis of the Questionnaire to EU Member States (Chatham House, October 2004), available at . For the report and papers of the meeting, see .
53. See Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. § 701 (25 May 1900), as amended: PL. 97-79, 95 Stat. 1073,16 U.S.C. 3371-3378 (approved 16 November 1981), and as amended by PL. 100-653, 102 Stat. 3825 (approved 14 November 1988), and PL. 98-327, 98 Stat. 271 (approved 25 June 1984).
54. See the conclusions of the European Parliament's Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy (January 2004), available at .
55. For a discussion of these and other options, see the report of the Chatham House workshop on 'Excluding Illegal Timber: Border Controls and Public Procurement' (October 2003), available at .
56. N. Suparna, Forest Governance and Forest Law Enforcement in Indonesia (paper for the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance East Asia Ministerial Conference, September 2001).
57. See Inquirer News Service, 'Forest Czar Corpus: All-out War Even Against the Powerful' (5 December 2004), available at .
58. For a fuller discussion of policy options in this area, see L. Tacconi, M. Boscolo and D. Brack, National and International Activities to Control Illegal Forest Activities (CIFOR, July 2003), available at .
59. See J. Saunders, Improving Due Diligence in Forestry Investments: Restricting Legitimate Finance for Illegal Activities (Chatham House, forthcoming, summer 2005).
60. I b i d.
61. For further information, see the report of a Chatham House workshop on 'Sources of Investment for Forestry: Preventing Flows of Finance to Illegal Activities' (September 2003), available at .
62. For a comparative analysis of the five schemes, and a brief discussion of the application of EU procurement directives, see D. Brack and J. Saunders, Public Procurement of Timber: EU Member State Initiatives for Sourcing Legal and Sustainable Timber (Chatham House, September 2004), available at . Also see FERN, To Buy or Not to Buy (January 2004), available at .
63. Also see FERN, To Buy or Not to Buy (January 2004), available at .
64. See, for example, Directive 2004/17/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 coordinating the procurement procedures of entities operating in the water, energy, transport and postal services sectors [2004] OJ L134/1, and Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the coordination of procedures for the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts, [2004] OJ L134/114, both found at .
65. Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET), UK Government Timber Procurement Policy: An Assessment of Five Existing Certification Schemes (CPET, undated), available at .
66. See, for example, UK Timber Trade Federation, Responsible Purchasing Policy (TTF 9 December 2003), available at .
67. UK Timber Trade Federation, 'Indonesia Action Plan Enters Second Phase' (TTF, 27 April 2004), available at .
68. UK Timber Trade Federation, 'EU Illegal Logging Project Approved' (TTF, 13 December 2004), available at .