Regulation 2010/995 - Obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 295/23

Forests provide a broad variety of environmental, economic and social benefits including timber and non-timber forest products and environmental services essential for humankind, such as maintaining biodiversity and ecosystem functions and protecting the climate system.

Due to the growing demand for timber and timber products worldwide, in combination with the institutional and governance deficiencies that are present in the forest sector in a number of timber-producing countries, illegal logging and the associated trade have become matters of ever greater concern.

Illegal logging is a pervasive problem of major international concern. It poses a significant threat to forests as it contributes to the process of deforestation and forest degradation, which is responsible for about 20 % of global CO2 emissions, threatens biodiversity, and undermines sustainable forest management and development including the commercial viability of operators acting in accordance with applicable legislation. It also contributes to desertification and soil erosion and can exacerbate extreme weather events and flooding. In addition, it has social, political and economic implications, often undermining progress towards good governance and threatening the livelihood of local forest-dependent communities, and it can be linked to armed conflicts. Combating the problem of illegal logging in the context of this Regulation is expected to contribute to the Union’s climate change mitigation efforts in a cost-effective manner and should be seen as complementary to Union action and commitments in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (3) identifies as a priority action the examination of the possibility of taking active measures to prevent and combat trade in illegally harvested wood and the continuation of the active participation of the Union and of Member States in the implementation of global and regional resolutions and agreements on forest-related issues.

The Commission Communication of 21 May 2003 entitled ‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT): Proposal for an EU Action Plan’ proposed a package of measures to support international efforts to tackle the problem of illegal logging and associated trade in the context of overall efforts of the Union to achieve sustainable forest management.

The European Parliament and the Council welcomed that Communication and recognised the need for the Union to contribute to global efforts to address the problem of illegal logging.

In accordance with the aim of that Communication, namely to ensure that only timber products which have been produced in accordance with the national legislation of the timber-producing country enter the Union, the Union has been negotiating Voluntary Partnership Agreements (FLEGT VPAs) with timber-producing countries (partner countries), which create a...