MEP pushes for ban on illegal timber imports
British MEP says draft legislation is not enough to prevent illegal timber from entering the EU
Caroline Lucas, a UK Green MEP, has called for a ban on the imports of illegally logged timber as part of efforts to help prevent deforestation.
Lucas, who is drafting the European Parliament’s position on illegal logging, told MEPs on the environment committee today (6 April) that draft legislation agreed by agriculture ministers last year would fail to stop illegal timber from entering the EU. Lucas said the position agreed “isn’t strong enough or rigorous enough to prevent continued illegal trading on the EU market”. She called for MEPs to take a strong position and “not kid ourselves that this is only a problem outside the EU”.
Armed conflict
Illegal logging is closely tied to deforestation, armed conflict and organised crime as well as contributing to lowering timber prices. Around one to two-fifths of all wood production comes from illegal sources, according to a United Nations report published in 2007.
The European Commission set out a proposal to tackle the EU’s contribution to the problem in October 2008, but progress has been slow.
With work on the second reading of the regulation now under way, the Parliament and the Council of Ministers are far apart, a point reinforced by many – but not all – of the comments in today’s debate. Last year the Council rejected nearly all the changes to the legislation that MEPs wanted. Lucas said she planned to re-table many of these rejected amendments because of the weakness of the Council position.
‘Due diligence’
One of the dividing points is whether the EU should impose an outright ban on illegal timber and products derived from it. The Council does not want a ban explicitly written into the law, but instead requires companies to undertake “due diligence” to ensure the wood they buy comes from legal sources. Lucas told the committee that an explicit ban was needed to make the law “systematically effective”
The MEP also disagrees with the Council over penalties. While national governments are happy with more general language that penalties should be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”, Lucas would like to see member states given much more explicit guidance on punishing importers of wood from illegal logging.
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The two sides are also at odds over exemptions from the law for recycled products and the inclusion of labour standards into the law.
Socialists, Liberals and a member of the Conservative anti-federalist group offered warm support to Lucas. “The member states are full of lofty statements about biodiversity and reducing emissions,” said Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, a Dutch Liberal, “I can’t for the life of me understand why the Council has taken such a weak position.”
Julie Girling, a UK Conservative, praised Lucas’s work and said that she was not convinced that the “huge extra burdens” some companies warned of “actually existed”.
But members of the centre-right European People’s Party gave Lucas a more muted reception. “It would be good to have complete traceability, but that would be difficult in the real world,” said Karl-Heinz Florenz, a German centre-right MEP, who argued that the focus of the EU’s fight against illegal timber should be on customs controls. Some of his party colleagues warned about the effects on small businesses and the demand for wood. “We do need to preserve future wood as a raw material,” said Françoise Grossetête, a French centre-right MEP, who warned against putting “a huge bureaucratic burden” on companies.
The environment committee will vote on the second draft of Lucass’s report in May, with a vote by the full Parliament to follow in June.
Cautious retail support
Before the committee started its debate, four big European retailers gave a cautious welcome to EU action on illegal logging. Carrefour, Kingfisher, IKEA and Marks & Spencer announced that they were setting up the Timber Retail Coalition (TRC), a vehicle for like-minded companies to argue for current proposals to build on existing voluntary measures and “send a clear message that illegally-harvested timber is not acceptable”.
Ian Cheshire, group chief executive officer of Kingfisher, which includes the B&Q and Brico Depot brands, said: “The TRC’s ultimate aim is to provide our customers with the reassurance that every single wood product they buy has been legally sourced. We now need Brussels to take action necessary to achieve this.”