EU Policy on Forest Law enforcement and governance :

the EU FLEGT Action Plan, recent developmentsENPI FLEG II Steering Committee

Minsk, 1 October 2013

Mathieu BousquetHead of Sector Environment, Energy, Transport,

Regional programmes Neighbourhood East,DEVCO F3, European Commission

Forest – why important ?

1. For livelihoods: woodfuel, bushmeat, medicines, cultural value

2. For national economies

3. For development: jobs, incomes for national budget (exports, domestic market, woodfuel business)

4. For climate: local desertification, erosion, flood scale…

5. For ecosystem services: biodiversity, water, climate change

Illegal logging has many negative impacts

Environmental damage: forest degradation & biodiversity loss & contribution climate change

Social : on forest-dependent people

Economic : undermines livelihoods, reduces competitiveness of legitimate forest industry, revenue losses for Governments

undermines rule of law, fosters corruption

Why fighting against illegal logging ?

Asia : Bali, 2001

Africa : Yaoundé, 2003

St Petersburg : Europe and North Asia, 2005

Demand from partner countries

Pressure from our constituents

Setting an EU agenda for FLEG : the FLEGT Action Plan

- Using the trade component (access to markets) as an incentive : FLEG FLEGT

- Supporting technically and financially the efforts of our partners (development & cooperation)

- Anchoring commitments in legally binding treaties : voluntary partnership agreements (VPA)

- Key principles : respect country sovereignty, promote better governance, transparency and stakeholder participation

FLEGT Action Plan : main objectives Fight against illegal logging

Recognition that EU is part of the problem, as any consuming market

Propose a blend of policy measures to tackle the issue : demand side and supply side

FLEGT Action Plan : supply side1. Support to timber producing countries. Includes rechnical

and financial support to projects (ENPI FLEG I & II)

2. Voluntary partnership agreements

3. Support to national public procurement policies in timber prudicing countries that favour legal timber

4. Support to private sector initiatives and CSO initiatives in partner countries

FLEGT licenses (not yet)System developmentFormal negotiationsEntering into negotiationsPreparation, in-country consensus buildingIntroduction to VPAs

CongoC.A.R.

Malaysia

Indonesia

Cameroon

Ghana

Liberia

FLEGT VPA partner countries

September 2013

Gabon DRC

Vietnam

Thailand

Honduras

Laos

Cote d'Ivoire

Guyana

Already some tangible impacts

In Indonesia alone, a Chatham House study estimates that about 160 million m3 was saved from illegal logging (2000-2006). This represents about 7,8 million hectares of forests which

have been saved from serious degradation or destruction, or

slightly more forest than what the FAO estimates is lost every year world wide, or

equivalent to 2,5 times the area of Belgium.

Efforts against illegal logging in Indonesia and Cameroon between 2001 and 2006 resulted in :

Avoiding 1,6 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions (about 4% of current annual global human-induced carbon emissions)

Avoiding tax losses of 4 billion US$

FLEGT Action Plan : demand side National Procurement policies

Private certification schemes and codes of conducts

Transparency & accounting directives on forest investment

Adoption and entry into application of the timber regulation

The EU Timber regulation Adopted in 2010, entered into application 3 March 2013

Focus on EU operators. Their obligations : Due diligence = “operators” shall use procedures and measures called “due

diligence system” (DDS) to ensure that the timber they place on the market is not illegal

Prohibition to place illegally harvested timber or timber products on the EU market

Traceability = “traders” shall be able to identify their suppliers and customers

MS Competent authorities responsible for monitoring and enforcing this regulation

Thank you