EU officially says no to illegal timber
7 July 2010
Huge areas of the world’s forests could be saved thanks to a vote in the European Parliament today. The EU has now officially approved a new law that will keep illegal wood and wood products out of the European market.
We want to congratulate members of the European Parliament for their decision to take real action against illegal activities that destroy vast areas of forests every year across the world.
We’ve been campaigning for a strong EU law on illegal timber for some time, and our supporters have played an important role, helping keep the pressure on EU policymakers last year by asking UK MPs to push for strong action at EU level.
If the law is adopted it will mean that from 2012 illegal timber and timber products will be banned from the EU market and that companies importing timber will have to provide information about the country of origin of the timber they use and its legality.
Unfortunately the law exempts printed products for now, and it fails to set minimum levels of penalties and sanctions, which we believe are really important to try and ensure a level playing field in the market.
But there’s a lot to celebrate. With this new law, the European Parliament has opened the door for a European timber sector based on legal principles. It’s also delivered a blow to those who want to profit from illegal logging by destroying the world’s forests.
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