Harvested timber

This section provides a description of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade licensing scheme (FLEGT licensing) scheme as established under the EU FLEGT Regulation.

The FLEGT licensing scheme is a voluntary scheme to ensure that only legally produced timber products are imported into the EU from countries with which the EU concludes bilateral FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). Under an operational FLEGT licensing scheme, a partner country issues FLEGT licences for every shipment of timber products covered by the VPA, exported to the EU. The release for free circulation in the EU of such shipments is conditional on the acceptance by EU FLEGT competent authorities of the FLEGT licence. EU FLEGT competent authorities may verify the authenticity of the FLEGT licence and its conformity with the shipment that it covers.

Under the FLEGT licensing scheme the EU has concluded FLEGT VPAs with a number of countries. Timber products (defined in the Agreements by HS codes) exported from FLEGT VPA partner countries to the EU are covered by a FLEGT licence issued by the licensing authority (-ies) of that country. The FLEGT licence demonstrates that the timber products have complied with relevant legislation as set out in the corresponding bilateral FLEGT VPAs. Once operational the implementation of the licensing scheme requires that imports of relevant timber products into the EU be made subject to a system of checks and controls so that only FLEGT licenced timber will be imported to the EU.

Please see Products - Harvested timber

The FLEGT licensing system has been put in place so that countries exporting to the EU can demonstrate that their exports of timber products to the EU are legally produced. The scheme does not impose any restrictions neither in terms of quantity nor in terms of volumes to the imported goods. While the CITES Convention regulates trade in endangered species, including certain timber species, it does not cover the bulk of the timber trade. In the light of public concerns about imports of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber and the negative impact on perceptions of the timber sector a bilateral approach to address the issue together with interested countries, accompanied by capacity building measures, was considered appropriate. The EU also adopted a horizontal approach to the issue of illegal logging and associated trade through adoption of Regulation (EU) No, 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market (OJ L 295, 12.11.2010, p. 23), also known as the EU Timber Regulation or EUTR. The EUTR and the VPAs are key elements of the FLEGT Action Plan. Valid FLEGT licences (and CITES permits) are considered to automatically comply with the requirements of the EUTR.

The products concerned are not under restriction as to the quantity or value of imports. Replies from 6.1-6.11 are therefore not pertinent.

The FLEGT licensing scheme applies only to imports from partner countries with which the EU has concluded FLEGT VPAs. These agreements place a legally binding obligation on the EU and on the partner country to implement the licensing scheme as set out in each VPA. To date, the EU has concluded FLEGT VPAs with: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Ghana, Liberia, Indonesia, the Republic of Congo and Viet Nam. The EU has concluded negotiations and initialled a VPA with Honduras and Guyana. In order for a partner country to be able to issue FLEGT licences, it must put in place a timber legality assurance system and other measures outlined in the VPA. As of 15 November 2016, the FLEGT licensing scheme has become operational between the EU and Indonesia. The scheme is not yet operational for other VPA countries.