The EU FLEGT initiative The EU FLEGT initiative Berlin 11 June 2013 DG Environment European Commission

Background FConcerns about EU serving as a market for illegally harvested timber, including “conflict timber” F2001 Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) F2003 EU adopted FLEGT Action Plan (+T for Trade) F2005 FLEGT Regulation F2010 EU Timber Regulation

FLEGTActionPlan FLEGT Action Plan FLegality as a foundation for sustainability FMain elements äDevelopment cooperation äPublic procurement policies äPrivate sector actions äFLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) äAdditional legislative options

1. FLEGTVPAs 1. FLEGT VPAs FLegally binding bilateral agreements on trade in forest products FParticipatory negotiation process FBased on partner economies laws FIndependent system audit function FControls at EU Customs FNeed time for negotiation and then implementation

FLEGT licenses (not yet) System development Formal negotiations Entering negotiations Preparation, in-country consensus building Introduction to VPAs Congo C.A.R.. Malaysia Indonesia Camero on Ghana Liberia FLEGT VPA partners Jan 2013 Gabon D.R.C. Viet Nam Guyana Honduras Laos

OtherDialogues Other Dialogues FEU-Russia FLEGC FEU-China FLEG BCM F+ informal contacts the US; Australia; Japan

2. EU Timber Regulation FBilateral VPAs good, but demands for overarching legislation to prevent the EU serving as a market for illegally harvested timber F2008 US Lacey Act amended to prohibit the sale of illegally harvested timber FEU legislative proposal put forward in 2008 FAmended proposal adopted as Regulation (EU) 995/2010, entered into force on 2 nd December 2010 applicable since 3 March 2013

Legal Framework Commission Regulation on MO (No 363/2012 ) Commission Regulation on DDS (No 607/2012 ) Guidance document

OBLIGATIONS Operators shall exercise due diligence when placing timber or timber products on the market. To that end, they shall use a framework of procedures and measures, hereinafter referred to as a ‘due diligence system’, as set out in Article 6 of the EUTR Due diligence The placing on the market of illegally harvested timber or timber products derived from such timber shall be prohibited Traders shall be able to identify from who they bought the timber products and where applicable to who they have supplied the timber products Prohibition Traceability

WHO IS LIABLE?  “Operators” = any natural or legal person who places timber or timber products on the EU market. Liable for: Exercising of due diligence Prohibition  “Traders” = any natural or legal person who trades on the internal market timber or timber products already placed on the market. Liable for the “traceability” 10

Illegally harvested Harvested in contravention of the applicable legislation in the country of harvest Applicable legislation in the country of harvest - Legal rights to harvest - Taxes and fees linked to harvesting - Compliance with timber harvesting laws, including directly related environmental and forest legislation - Respect for third parties tenure/use rights - Trade and customs laws in so far as the forest sector in concerned

12 placing information risk evaluation risk mitigation

Key components of a DDS 1)Access to information: species, origin, quantities, traders and compliance with legal requirements of harvest country 2)Risk assessment: certification; prevalence of illegal harvesting; sanctions; complex supply chains, etc. 3) Risk mitigation: Ex: additional information or documentation; certification, etc. Negligible risk - where following full risk assessment no cause for concern can be discerned Products covered by FLEGT or CITES licenses are considered to have been legally harvested for the purposed of the EU Timber Regulation This means by importing FLEGT or CITES licensed timber, due diligence is exercised.

Monitoring organisations (MO)  Legally established within the EU and recognised by the Commission/the EFTA Surveillance Authority  Maintain and evaluate a due diligence system and grant operators the right to use it  Ensure that operators correctly apply the due diligence system  Will be subject to checks by competent authorities  MO assist operators and is an option for operators  Commission in a process of recognising first successful applicants 14

PRODUCT SCOPE Listed in Annex using EU Customs codes Covers a wide range of timber products Does not cover: –Waste and recycled products –Packaging material to support or carry another product –Certain bamboo and rattan products –Other products not listed in Annex (toys; musical instruments) May be amended to include other products (Chapter 49) 15

EUTR Enforcement: the EU Member States Competent authorities (CA) = national government bodies responsible for the application and enforcement : Check operators; Check MOs; Reports, etc. A list of EU MS` CA can be found here: Penalties: effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties Commission monitors uniform implementation: regular meetings with CA 16

Role of 3rd party verified schemes (certification)? Recognition of the voluntary certification in the Preamble - Recognition of the voluntary certification in the Preamble - Recital (19) Role in the risk assessment - Role in the risk assessment - Art. 6 (b) “[...] Risk assessment procedures shall take into account [...] relevant risk assessment criteria including: Assurance of compliance with applicable legislation, which may include certification or third-party-verified schemes which cover compliance with applicable legislation [...]” Role in the risk mitigation - Role in the risk mitigation - Art. 6(c) “[...] risk mitigation procedures [...] may include requiring additional information or documents and/or third party verification”.

Role of 3rd party verified schemes? Criteria for assessing their credibility in the implementing Regulation Art. 4 Risk assessment and risk mitigation (a)they have established and made available for third party use a publicly available system of requirements, which system shall at the least include all relevant requirements of the applicable legislation; (b)they specify that appropriate checks, including field-visits, are made by a third party at regular intervals no longer than 12 months to verify that the applicable legislation is complied with; (c)they include means, verified by a third party, to trace timber harvested in accordance with applicable legislation, and timber products derived from such timber, at any point in the supply chain before such timber or timber products are placed on the market; (d)they include controls, verified by a third party, to ensure that timber or timber products of unknown origin, or timber or timber products which have not been harvested in accordance with applicable legislation, do not enter the supply chain. Further explanations in the Guidance document (section 6) 18

–19  DG ENV commissioned a study: The impact of EU consumption of imported food and non-food commodities (e.g. meat, soy beans, palm oil, metal ores) that are likely to contribute to deforestation.  This could lead to considering policy options to reduce this impact NOT ONLY TIMBER…  Mining and minerals are included!

–20 Statistics: Most of EU27 imports of fossil fuels and mining ores are being sourced in either countries which have a very low forest cover or don’t report deforestation; Most coal is imported from South Africa, Australia and the Russian Federation; most oil comes from Norway, the Russian Federation and North Africa; mining ores are mainly sourced from South Africa, Botswana and Brazil.

–21 For imports of minerals (mining of metal ores, uranium, gems, and other mining and quarrying), Brazil is the largest contributor with 26%, and Indonesia with 20%. Brazil is an important source of iron and aluminium ores and concentrates for the EU27. Indonesia for copper ores and concentrates, and gold ores and concentrates of other precious metals.

–22

23 Thank you! European Commission DG ENV.E.2 "Global Sustainability, Trade & Multilateral Agreements" Website: