1 / 12

FLEGT EU demand-side measures Beijing, 18 June 2008

FLEGT EU demand-side measures Beijing, 18 June 2008. Vincent van den Berk European Commission. EU demand-side measures. Create market incentives for legal timber through: Private sector initiatives; Support the implementation of VPA agreements; Green public procurement policies;

skule
Download Presentation

FLEGT EU demand-side measures Beijing, 18 June 2008

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. FLEGT EU demand-side measuresBeijing, 18 June 2008 Vincent van den Berk European Commission

  2. EU demand-side measures Create market incentives for legal timber through: • Private sector initiatives; • Support the implementation of VPA agreements; • Green public procurement policies; • Additional legal options.

  3. Green Public Procurement I • Procurement = EU Member State competency; • Policies in place: BE-DE-DK-ES-FR-IT-NL-UK; • 10-20% of market on average with main effects on construction, furniture and paper products; • Most policies focus on sustainability only, some also recognise legality.

  4. Green Public Procurement II New Green Public Procurement Communication: • Follows from earlier agreed initiatives; • Identifies wood products as a priority category; • Aims to develop a process of cooperation with the MS to identify applicable procurement criteria;

  5. Green Public Procurement III link to FLEGT in the New GPP Communication: • MS are recommended to stipulate – as minimum – the use of legal timber; • Advocates a stepwise approach from legality towards sustainability for developing countries

  6. Additional legal options I The process on additional options (to reinforce VPA’s): • 2006/07: Internet and stakeholder consultations • End 2007: Impact assessment study • June 2008: Proposal in Inter-Services Consultations • 3rd quarter 2008: Proposal presented to Council and EP

  7. Additional legal options II • Option 1: VPA expansion • Option 2: Voluntary private sector schemes • Option 3: Ban on imports • Option 4a: Prohibition on trading illegal timber • Option 4b: mandatory private sector legality guarantee Conclusion: all options have their limitations • New Option: ‘due diligence’

  8. Due diligence proposal I Key characteristics of the proposed regulation: • Aim: To recognize the efforts of producers/traders that invest in the legality of their timber products; • Product scope: round wood; sawn timber; veneer, panels, wooden furniture, pulp, paper, wood chips; • Focus: The act of placing timber products on the Community market.

  9. Due diligence proposal II • Obligation: traders to demonstrate due diligence in ensuring the legality of the produce traded; • Legality: legislation applicable in country of harvest; • Systems: traders may develop their own verification and COC systems or use existing systems; • Risk: Use of risk assessment procedure;

  10. Due diligence proposal III • Guidance: Criteria for due diligence to be developed through an additional procedure, based on the work of an Advisory group • Exemptions: FLEGT and CITES timber; • Enforcement: Check on use of due diligence systems by the Member States;

  11. Expected effects • Level playing field: Requires all EU traders to use due diligence; • Risk management: provides an incentive to source imports from low risk rather than high risk suppliers; • Incentive for FLEGT: Provides partner countries with an incentive to join FLEGT

  12. Vincent .van-den-berk@ec.europa.eu Thank you

More Related