EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 78/287

(2004/C 78 E/0287)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3458/03

by Erik Meijer (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(21 November 2003)

Subject: The final destruction of tropical rainforests and measures to prevent overlogging and imports of timber without an ecolabel

1. Is the Commission aware that in recent years the destruction of tropical rainforests in Brazil, central Africa, Indonesia and Malaysia as a result of fires and clear-cut logging has speeded up very considerably and that the laws enacted in those countries to protect rainforests are repeatedly circumvented by powerful corporations or army units which have an interest in timber exports and in gaining possession of deforested land for other purposes?

2. Does the Commission realise that Europe will also feel the impact of the climate change partly caused by this deforestation, so that Europe has a stake in bringing overlogging to an end?

3. Does the Commission recall that efforts have been made to ensure the availability of tropical hardwoods by means of planned logging combined with replanting; the timber produced is given an ecolabel, the aim being to ensure that tropical rainforests and these types of timber will continue to exist and be available in the future?

4. Is the Commission aware that, according to Greenpeace, a major proportion (i.e. 50-80 %) of the tropical hardwood currently imported into the EU has no ecolabel and is thus in all likelihood the product of overlogging and that most firms which import tropical hardwoods into the EU are not able or willing to end this practice as long as their competitors continue to flout statutory import bans?

5. Why has the EU market not already been completely closed to tropical hardwoods without an ecolabel?

6. Is the Commission prepared to take measures in the immediate future in order to prevent further imports into the EU of tropical hardwoods with no ecolabel?

Source: Nederland 1 television station, Netwerk, 10 November 2003.

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(20 January 2004)

1. The Commission is aware of current deforestation trends in tropical forest areas and agrees that the reasons for such deforestation include those mentioned by the Honourable Member.

2. The impact of such rapid deforestation on climate change is a serious concern for Europe, though not the only concern — biodiversity loss being another serious consequence.

3. The Commission has promoted the conservation and sustainable management of forests through development co-operation programmes for a number of years, including projects in the countries and regions mentioned by the Honourable Member. It has, since 1992, managed a budget line specifically aimed at tropical forests and forests in developing countries. The Commission also participates together with Member States in global processes aimed at promoting sustainable forest management such as the United Nations (UN) Forum on Forests and the International Tropical Timber Organisation.

4. The Commission considers that the estimate of the proportion of tropical hardwood entering the Union market without an eco-label may well be correct. There is, however, no statutory ban on the importation of tropical hardwood (with or without ecolabel) as the question suggests, other than the current ban on the importation of Liberian timber resulting from UN Security Council Resolution 1478/2003.

5. The Community market has not been closed to tropical hardwoods without an eco-label for various reasons, amongst them: — there has been no global intergovernmental agreement on the definition of sustainable forest management — so the technical basis for such a ban would be disputed; — the Commission considers existing ecolabel schemes used to identify forest produce from sustainably managed forests (forest certification) as voluntary market-based instruments which provide information to the consumer, not as a basis for trade bans; — tropical countries argue that the complexity of natural tropical forests makes it more difficult to certify such forests compared to temperate forests with a limited number of species — hence such a ban could be considered discriminatory from this perspective; — a ban which only applied to tropical hardwoods would be discriminatory — for it not to be so, it would need to be applied to imports from all countries ie. including temperate and boreal countries.

6. The Commission does not intend to take measures to prevent imports into the Union of tropical hardwoods with no eco-label. Its approach is rather to encourage demand for forest products labelled as being from sustainably managed forests through a voluntary approach, as stated in the Sixth Environment Action Programme (1). The Commission has, however, proposed measures which would enable the elimination of illegally harvested timber from the Union market in its Communication on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (2).

(1) Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002, OJ L 242, 10.9.2002.

(2) COM(2003) 251 final.