The European Union has put into effect a regulation to combat trade in products manufactured with illegal timber with an emphasis on traceability.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
From an article by the Costa Rican Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
In March the European Union (EU) put into effect Regulation (EU) 995/2010 of the European Parliament which seeks to regulate the market for wood products in order to minimize the risk of selling illegal timber in the EU, this regulation requires the operator or company responsible for introducing a product of this nature to the region to be able to apply the principle of "due diligence", so as to ensure that timber traded is legal.
To achieve this goal, the new rules will force operators to promote an exercise in "risk management" so as to assess the chances of illegal timber or timber products being introduced on the basis of information to which they must have access which describes wood and products, its country of origin, information on compliance with national regulations, as well as information on quantities and details of the supplier.
In April it will be not long until an agreement is reached between Honduras and the EU for marketing timber in the old continent, which is sourced from sustainably harvested forests.
An article on Laprensa.hn reports that "...The delegations from Honduras and the European Union (EU) expect that in April the sixth and final round of negotiations for the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT Ava) will be held."
In 2014 1.017.000 cubic meters of roundwood timber were processed, of which 78% came from forest plantations, 20% from land in use and agriculture, and 2% from forests.
From a summary of the study by the National Forestry Office (ONF):
As part of the results revealed in this report, it is estimated that the industry of primary wood processing, in both stationary and portable plants, processed 1,017,000 cubic meters of roundwood (m3-r). Of that amount, 788,666 m3-r (77.6%) come from forest plantations, 207,693 m3-r from land used for agricultural (20.4%) and 20,640 m3-r from forests (2%). This information confirms a 4.4% increase in volume compared to the amounts reported in 2013.
Entrepreneurs in the timber industry are complaining that excessive regulation and high production costs are preventing them from exploiting the productive capacity of the sector.
Today, three quarters of total wood consumption is grown in the country and the rest is supplied by imports, however, "... Regulations mean that only a small percentage of the productive capacity of Costa Rica is used. "
A voluntary agreement is already underway with the European Union to reduce trade in timber goods made from illegal logging.
The first round of negotiations have been conducted on a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU, and the FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) in order to reduce trade in manufactured goods made from illegal timber logging.
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