EN    EN EN 
 
EN    EN  COMMISSION OF THE E UROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 17.10.2008 
SEC(2008) 2616 
  
COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 
 
accompanying the 
Proposal for a 
 
REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 
 
determining the obligations of operators who make timber and timber products 
available on the market  
   
Summary of the Impact Assessment  
 
Report on additional options to combat illegal logging 
  
{COM(2008) 644 final} 
{SEC(2008) 2615} 
 
EN 2   EN Lead DG: DG ENV  
Other involved services: DEV, AGRI, ENTR, SJ, SG, TRADE, MARKT  
 
Agenda planning: 2007/ENV+/023  
The report commits only the Commission's services involved in the preparation and the text is 
prepared as a basis for comment and does not prej udice the final form of any decision to be 
taken by the Commission 
 
EN 3   EN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 
This report presents possible op tions with respect to further policy or legislative options for 
measures to address the introduction of timbe r and timber products to the EU market 
originating from illegal logging.  
The European Community policy regarding illega l logging and related trad e was set out in the 
Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Tr ade (FLEGT) Action Plan which includes a 
number of measures to ensure that timber a nd wood products imported in to the EU have been 
legally harvested or manufactured from legally harvested timber.  
One of the key measures proposed by the Action Plan is a licensing scheme for the prevention 
of illegal logging and related trade coming into the European Union (EU). The licensing scheme would be implemented as part of th e Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs), 
which are being negotiated w ith a number of countries. 
The VPA approach is considered promising but it is recognized that it may have limitations. 
The EU FLEGT Action Plan therefore makes provisions for an analysis of additional measures, which could enhance the EU’s efforts to eliminate imports of illegally harvested timber and timber products to the EU market. A total of five options have been identified, compared to the "baseline" scenario (c ontinuation present FLEGT VPA approach). 
(1) Expansion of the FLEGT VPA approach  
(2) Voluntary measures by the privat e sector further developed  
(3) Border measures to prevent the import ation of illegally harvested timber  
(4) Prohibition on the placing on the EU mark et of illegally harvested timber  
• Sub-option 4A: Legislation which prohibits the trading and possession of timber and 
timber products harvested in breach of the laws of the country of origin (i.e. where trees 
harvested) 
• Sub-option 4B: Legislation which requires th at only legally harvested timber and timber 
products be placed on the market  
(5) Legislation which requires due diligence by all t imber traders to ensure that they trade 
in legally harvested timber.  
The report defines the problem of illegal lo gging and the important economic (loss of 
revenues for third countries or unfair competition to the industry), social and environmental 
damage (loss of forests and biodiversity, other environmental impacts). It furthermore gives 
an overview of the production of timber and t imber products globally and within the EU as 
well trade figures globally and imports into  the EU. Estimates have been made on the 
proportion of illegally harvested timber (being not harvested in accordance with the applicable legislation) and the associated trade.  
The impact of all policy options on the reducti on in illegal logging in the EU and non-EU 
countries have been assessed as well as the economic impacts (in particular regulatory costs 
involved for the government sector), costs for th e private sector and tr ade impacts in both EU 
 
EN 4   EN and non-EU countries) and social (employment,  other social factors) and environmental 
impacts.  
The largest impact on a reduction in illeg al logging, assuming that the measures are 
implemented effectively, can be  found in options 4A, 4B and 5. The unit costs of legality 
control (in Euro/m3) are rather low in all options, the differences are attributable to the 
variation in implementation a rrangements (e.g. third-party ve rification may be included or 
excluded). Option 4b prohibiting the placing of illegal timber on the EU market involves in 
particular high costs for the priv ate sector, while the regulatory costs are the highest in option 
3.  
The report indicates that the latest option 5 "due diligen ce", developed by combining the 
positive elements of option 2 (voluntary measur es by the private sector) and options 4A and 
4B (enforceability through the need for burden of proof) would be mo st effective of the 
options assessed. It would result in a reduction in illegal logging without  the introduction of a 
high cost systematic control system and cons iderable enforcement problems which might be 
expected under several other options (in particular  options 4A and 4B). It will serve as well as 
an incentive for sourcing of timber from c ountries with FLEGT Voluntary Partnership 
Agreements or for timber covered by valid CITES (Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species) permits, since this woul d provide a high degree of certainty for 
operators and exporting countries involved.