Presidency begins to discuss regulation on illegal logging

16. 1. 2009

Press release — Prague, January 16th 2009, PR CZ PRES - At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council held on Monday, the Czech Presidency began to discuss the principles of a system to prevent illegal logging.

Tisková zpráva 
Press Release 
Communiqué de presse

Prague, 16 January 2009

 

Presidency begins to discuss regulation on illegal logging

At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council held on Monday, the Czech Presidency began to discuss the principles of a system to prevent illegal logging.

According to Minister Gandalovic, the Presidency does not want to provide guarantees of the legal origin of timber and timber products placed on the EU market at the expense of an excessive administrative burden or undermining the competitiveness of timber compared to other materials. The obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market are set by a new proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council. The political debate aimed at finding the optimum balance between the necessary protection of the EU timber market, as well as the identification of the origin of timber products, and the related administrative burden began in Brussels on Monday at the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council chaired by Petr Gandalovic.

‘The first exchange of positions of the EU Member States offered guidelines to the Presidency for  further debate on the principles of a system to eliminate illegal logging of timber and timber products originating from unverified sources on the Community market,’  commented Petr Gandalovic. He believes that the fight against illegal logging must go hand in hand with the priorities of the Presidency and follow its motto of a Europe without Barriers. ’We have to bear in mind that further measures and means to fight illegal logging should not bring about an unnecessary administrative burden, putting timber products and their producers into a less favourable position compared to other materials, which may have a worse impact on the environment,’stresses Gandalovic.

Most Member States expressed the need to make maximum use of national systems, including forest certification and consumer credit, thus reducing the administrative burden. There were also demands for equality of principles for EU Member States and third countries and respect for WTO rules.

The Presidency wishes to work intensively on this proposal. It has asked the Commission to prepare, together with the Member States, practical examples of how systems of due care work for various parties involved. This should take the discussion further. The European Parliament expects to vote on this proposal in April. 
 
Most forests in the European Union are certified, so the risk of placing domestic products coming from illegal logging on the Community market is rather low compared to timber imports, especially from tropical countries. This fact needs to be taken into account in the proposed regulation. 
 
 
Tereza Dvorácková, Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Agriculture
Tel.: +420 221 813 063
GSM: +420 737 213 030
E-mail: tereza.dvorackova@mze.cz

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