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Impacts of Policies to Eliminate Illegal Timber Trade
Ed Pepke
Jim Bowyer, Steve Bratkovich, Kathryn Fernholz,
Matt Frank, Harry Groot, Jeff Howe
www.dovetailinc.org
Society of Wood Science and Technology International Convention,
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA, 7-12 June 2015
Dovetail Mission Statement
Dovetail Partners provides authoritative information about the impacts and trade-offs of environmental decisions, including
consumption choices, land use, and policy alternatives.
ContentsIntroPolicies to eliminate illegal timber trade
US Lacey Act AmendmentEU Timber RegulationAustralian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act
Why certification alone doesn’t insure legalityImpacts on timber tradeEffects on the tropical timber tradeChanging trade patternsWhat is needed to further reduce illegal tradeConclusionsQuestions, discussion
I. Introduction
Illegal logging
In contradiction with national laws
Harvesting, transport, processing, buying, selling
Laws on forest management, access to resources, land tenure, environment, labor, commerce
Illegal timber trade
Import or export of
Illegally logged timber
Legally logged, but subsequent
illegal acts during transport,
processing, etc.
Costs of illegal timber trade
$1 billion/year to US timber trade (Seneca Creek & Wood Resources Intl, 2004)
$15 billion loss in revenues in developing countries (World Bank, 2006
$30-100 billion globally (Interpol & UNEP, 2012
Note: no accurate estimation of full costs
Source: UN Environment Programme and Interpol, 2012.
You are here
Illegal Trade of Timber and Illegal Logging
Brief history of illegal logging & trade policies
G-8 Action Programme on Forests, 1998
G-8 Plan of Action to reduce illegal logging & trade, 2005
FLEG (Forest Law Enforcement & Governance), 2001
FLEGT (with T=Trade) Action Plan, EU, 2003
Lacey Act Amendment, US, 2008
EU Timber Regulation, 2010/2013
Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act, 2012
II. Policies to eliminateillegal timber trade
Lacey Act Amendment, US, 2008
Premier legislation banning illegal timber
Throughout wood chain
Importing, exporting, buying, selling, receiving
Companies to exercise due care to ensure compliance (degree of care necessary)
Progressive penalties up to felony
EU Timber Regulation, 2013
Prohibits placing illegal timber on EU market
Operators (1st companies) exercise due diligence
EU member states enforce and determine penalties via designated Competent Authorities
Due diligence systems include
Info describing timber e.g. origin, species, quantity, compliance with national laws, etc.
Risk assessment of illegal timber
Risk mitigation. When risk exists:Additional info
Additional verification
Systems created in-house or outsourced to Monitoring Organizations
Australia Illegal Logging Prohibition Act, 2012
Criminal offence to intentionally import or process illegally logged timber
Businesses to practice due diligence
Compliment LAA and EUTR
Other countries laws
“Illegal trade” specific to timber
Procurement regulations for certified wood
Japanese Green Purchasing Law, 2006. Must import sustainable and legal wood
China developing legal verification policy
Comparison of policies
Same goals to eliminate illegal timber
EU & Australia use prescriptive approach
Lacey is fact based, so individual company responsible for compliance
EUTR accepts FLEGT-licensed & CITES permit
None accept certification of SFM alone as proof of legality
III. Why certification alone is not sufficient to ensure legality
Certification of sustainable forest management
Must be legal ownership, harvest to be certifiedBut illegalities can occur after logs leave forest
TransportProcessingTradeLabor
Certification systems modify standards to ensure legality, align with LAA and EUTR
PEFC has Due Diligence System beyond EUTR requirementsFSC elaborated its definition of legality, and incorporated trade and customs laws
IV. Impacts to date on the timber trade
Raising awareness of illegal logging & trade
Forest sector and beyond
Deforestation, illegal logging, trade
Value of forest management, periodic harvests, sustainability
Support of policies by timber industry
Beyond improving image
Increasing revenues, sustainability
Due diligence systems
Greater knowledge of sources of timber
Establish increased awareness of risks and their minimization
Increased certified forest
products
Changed some traditional
purchasing
Confiscation, court cases
US: Gibson Guitar
Imported of illegal ebony and rosewood from Madagascar, India
Claimed improper classification
Paid fines, forfeited wood
US: Lumber Liquidators. Case in progress
UK: Investigating Chinese plywood. Only 1 of 16 UK importers met due diligence requirements. Poplar core legality can’t be controlled
Substitution
Temperate for tropical
Appearance
Durability
Non-wood for wood
Alternative, less-stringent markets
US Steel promo !
IV. Effects on the tropical timber trade
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
Mil
lio
n m
3 i
n r
ou
nd
wo
od
eq
uiv
ale
nt Doubled from
1992
Global trade of wood and paper
20% drop
Source: FAO ForesStat, 2014
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
US
$ b
illio
n
Temperate Tropical
Based on volume tropical is consistently 17%
Based on value, nearly twice as valuable,falling slightly from 34% to 32% in 2013
Market share of temperate and tropical timber
Source: ITTO, 2015
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Millio
n m
3
Industrial roundwood Lumber Veneer Plywood
EU tropical timber imports
EU tropical timber imports are only 3% of volumeFallen by 66% from 1995This works against FLEGT Action Plan goals of importing more tropical timber from partners.
Source: ITTO, 2015
V. Changing trade patterns
Changing trade patterns
Before EUTR in March 2013, heightened buying
LAA
Raised import prices 25-50
Reduced tropical imports by 33-75% in volume
Changed trading partners, e.g. Brazil, Indonesia
FLEGT-licensed timber 2016
China
World’s largest importer of many timber products
Must prove legality for US, EU customers in conformity to LAA & EUTR
Increased focus on growing domestic demand
If legal timber flows to US, EU: RISK
Illegal timber to less demanding markets
Continue to undermine efforts to reduce illegality
VI. What is needed to further reduce illegal trade?
Concerted global action!
Collaboration between countriesPolicies
Enforcement
Realization of benefits of legal trade for increased revenues (timber sector and governments
More bilateral partnershipsE.g. EU voluntary partnership agreements
Bilateral agreements with non-VPA candidates, e.g. China
Enforcement of legislation
Research into magnitude of problems
VII. Conclusions
Illegal timber trade
Illegal timber trade negatively affects forest sectorSustainability
Revenues
Image
Tremendous social, economic, environmental consequences
Confusion of illegality and sustainability lead consumers away from tropical timber, and all timber. More than certification needed to restore confidence.
Successful initiatives, but long way to go
Government policies attack problem with different approaches
LAA, EUTR, Australia…next?
Strength of policies tested in courts
Require consistent enforcement
Strive for benefits
Communication of policies and their positive impacts
Consistent promotion of SFPM for SFM (Sustainable Forest Products Marketing)
Build “legality” into marketing approach
The bottom line
Governments, backed by legal timber trade, tackling disastrous effects of illegal logging and trade
Far-reaching effectsLoss of forests & their attributes
Loss of revenues for communities, industries, governments
Confusion about illegality less environmentally sound choices
Effective, enforced policies
restored confidence in wood
SFPM & SFM: renewable supply of wood & non-wood
Questions? DiscussionEd PEPKE, Associate, Forest Products Marketing and Policies
[email protected] www.dovetailinc.org
Co-authors:
Jim Bowyer, Director of Responsible Materials, [email protected]
Steve Bratkovich, Project Manager for Recycling and Reuse, [email protected]
Katie Fernholz, Executive Director, [email protected]
Matt Frank, Program and Research Associate, [email protected]
Harry Groot, Associate, [email protected]
Jeff Howe, Founder and Chairman, [email protected]
