Brussels, 31/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - The reinforced EU legislation banning the trade in illegal timber, which entered into force on 3 March of this year, is still not fully applied in almost half of the member states of the EU, according to a preliminary assessment (known as a “scorecard”), which was published by the European Commission on Wednesday 30 July.
More precisely, 12 out of the 28 member states are still not respecting their obligations under the new regulation banning the sale in the EU of wood harvested illegally, contrary to the legislation of the countries of origin. The scorecard categorises the member states on the basis of three main obligations imposed by the regulation, which are: the appointment of competent authorities, the adoption of rules on penalties applicable in the event of infringement and the creation of an adequate system to verify that businesses are complying with the legislation.
Spain, Poland, Hungary and Malta come bottom of the class as they are still not complying with any of these three obligations. They are followed by Italy, France, Romania and Greece, which have not yet set in place either the penalties, or adequate checks on businesses. In Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia and Luxembourg, either the penalties system or the control system is still not in place.
Greenpeace laments the fact that “four years after its adoption”, the law has still not been fully implemented and that “Europe remains a gateway for illegal timber”. The NGO stresses that the scorecard could be even worse if the Commission had assessed whether the penalties in place are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. In the view of Sébastien Risso, Greenpeace EU forest policy director, “governments' inaction and delays can no longer be justified. It is time for the Commission to take legal action against non-compliant EU countries”.
This regulation applies both to the wood itself and derivative products, such as paper and wood pulp, produced in or imported into the EU, and that the procedures it imposes must be observed by all operators in the sector. The aim of this legislation is to halt the illegal exploitation of forests in the world, which has serious economic, environmental and social impacts, as it contributes to deforestation and climate change, undermines the efforts of legitimate operators in the sector and can lead to clashes over the exploitation of land and resources. (AN)