Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 of  20 December 2005  on the establishment of a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Community
Date: 2005-12-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: customs regulations, import (EU), surveillance concerning imports, wood product

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Official Journal of the European Union

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I

(Acts whose publication is obligatory)

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 2173/2005

of 20 December 2005

on the establishment of a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European
Community

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community, and in particular Article 133 thereof,

establishing the European

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

The Council and the European Parliament welcomed the
Communication from the Commission to the Council
and the European Parliament on an EU Action Plan for
Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT)
as a first step towards tackling the urgent issue of illegal
logging and associated trade.

The Action Plan puts emphasis on governance reforms
and capacity building, supported by actions aimed at
developing multilateral cooperation and complementary
the
demand-side measures
illegally harvested timber and contri-
consumption of
buting to the wider objective of
sustainable forest
management in timber-producing countries.

designed

reduce

to

The Action Plan identifies the setting up of a licensing
scheme as a measure to ensure that only timber products
that have been legally produced in accordance with the
national legislation of the producing country may enter
the Community, and emphasises
licensing
scheme should not impede legitimate trade.

that

that

of

relevant

the licensing scheme requires that
Implementation of
imports
the
products
timber
Community be made subject to a system of checks and
controls
such
products.

seeking to guarantee the legality of

into

(5)

To this end the Community should conclude voluntary
Partnership Agreements with countries and regional

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

(10)

organisations, which are to place a legally binding obli-
gation on a partner country or regional organisation to
implement
the licensing scheme within the schedule
stipulated in each Partnership Agreement.

Under
the licensing scheme, certain timber products
exported from a partner country and entering the
Community at any customs point designated for release
for free circulation should be covered by a licence issued
by the partner country, stating that the timber products
have been produced from domestic timber that was
legally
legally harvested or
imported into a partner country in accordance with
laws as set out in the respective Partnership
national
Agreement. Compliance with those rules
should be
subject to third-party monitoring.

from timber

that was

The competent authorities of the Member States should
verify that each shipment is covered by a valid licence
prior to releasing the shipment covered by that licence
for free circulation in the Community.

Each Member State should determine the penalties
applicable in the event of infringements of this Regu-
lation.

The licensing scheme should initially cover a limited
range of timber products. When agreed, the range of
products could be extended to other product categories.

is important

It
to revise the Annexes specifying the
countries and products covered by the licensing scheme
promptly. Those revisions should take into account the
progress in implementation of Partnership Agreements. A
partner country may be added to Annex I after it has
notified the Commission and the Commission has
confirmed that this partner country has put in place all
the controls needed to be able to issue licences for all the
products listed in Annex II. A partner country may be
removed from Annex I either when it has given one
year’s notice of its intention to terminate its Partnership
Agreement or with immediate effect,
in the case of
suspension of its Partnership Agreement.

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(11) Annex II may be amended after the Commission and all
partner countries have agreed to such amendment.
Annex III may be amended after the Commission and
the partner country concerned have agreed to such
amendment.

2.

‘partner country’ means any State or regional organisation
that enters into a Partnership Agreement, as listed in
Annex I;

(12)

(13)

The amendments to Annexes I, II and III would be imple-
menting measures of technical nature and in order to
their adoption
simplify and expedite the procedure,
entrusted
should
Such
be
amendments
should comprise commodity codes, at
four-digit heading level or six-digit subheading level of
the current version of Annex I
to the Harmonised
Commodity Description and Coding System.

the Commission.

to

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
adopted in accordance with
Regulation should be
Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying
down the procedures for the exercise of implementing
conferred on the Commission (1) with a
powers
distinction being made between those measures which
are subject to the regulatory committee procedure and
those which are subject to the management committee
procedure, the management committee procedure being
in certain cases, with a view to increased efficiency, the
more appropriate,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

CHAPTER I

SUBJECT MATTER AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

3.

4.

5.

and a partner

‘Partnership Agreement’ means an agreement between the
Community
country by which the
Community and that partner country undertake to work
together in support of
the FLEGT Action Plan and to
implement the FLEGT licensing scheme;

‘regional organisation’ means an organisation consisting of
sovereign states that have transferred competence to that
organisation, granting it the capacity to enter into a Part-
nership Agreement on their behalf,
in respect of matters
governed by the FLEGT licensing scheme, as listed in
Annex I;

‘FLEGT licence’ means a shipment-based or market parti-
cipant-based document of a standard format which is to be
forgery-resistant, tamper-proof, and verifiable, and which
refers to a shipment as being in compliance with the
requirements of the FLEGT licensing scheme, duly issued
and validated by a partner country’s licensing authority.
communicating
recording
Systems
licences may be paper-based or based on electronic
means, as appropriate;

issuing,

and

for

6.

‘market participant’ means an actor, private or public,
involved in forestry or transformation or trade of timber
products;

1.
This Regulation establishes a Community set of rules for
the import of certain timber products for the purposes of
implementing the FLEGT licensing scheme.

7.

‘licensing authority(ies)’ means the authority(ies) designated
by a partner country to issue and validate FLEGT licences;

The licensing scheme shall be implemented through Part-

2.
nership Agreements with timber producing countries.

3.
This Regulation shall apply to imports of timber products
set out in Annexes II and III from partner countries listed in
Annex I.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Regulation the following definitions
shall apply:

8.

9.

‘competent
designated by Member States to verify FLEGT licences;

authority(ies)’ means

authority(ies)

the

‘timber products’ means the products set out in Annexes II
and III, to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies, and
which, when imported into the Community, cannot be
as
qualified as
defined in point 6 of Article 1 of Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 2454/93 of 2 July 1993 laying down provisions
for the implementation of Council Regulation (EEC) No
2913/92 establishing the Community Customs Code (2);

a non-commercial nature’

‘goods of

1.

‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade licensing
scheme’ (hereinafter referred to as FLEGT licensing scheme)
means the issuing of licences for timber products for export
to the Community from partner countries and its imple-
mentation in the Community, in particular in Community
provisions on border controls;

(1) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

10.

‘legally produced timber’ means timber products produced
from domestic timber that was legally harvested or timber
legally imported into a partner country in
that was
accordance with national laws determined by that partner
country as set out in the Partnership Agreement;

(2) OJ L 253, 11.10.1993, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 883/2005 (OJ L 148, 11.6.2005, p. 5).

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11.

‘imports’ means the release for free circulation of timber
products within the meaning of Article 79 of Council
Regulation (EEC) No 2913/1992 of 12 October 1992
establishing the Community Customs Code (1)

trade therein (2) shall be exempt
laid
down in paragraph 1 of this Article. The Commission shall
review this exemption,
in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 11(3), by 30 December 2010.

from the requirement

12.

‘shipment’ means a shipment of timber products;

Article 5

13.

‘export’ means the physical leaving or taking out of timber
products from any part of the geographical territory of a
partner country to bring them into the Community;

1.
A FLEGT licence covering each shipment shall be available
to the competent authority at the same time as the customs
declaration for that shipment is presented for release for free
circulation in the Community. The competent authorities shall
keep a record — in electronic or paper format — of the original
corresponding customs
FLEGT licence
declaration.

together with the

14.

‘third-party monitoring’ means a system through which an
is independent of a partner country's
organisation that
government authorities and its forest and timber sector
monitors and reports on the operation of
the FLEGT
licensing scheme.

Import of timber products under a FLEGT licence issued to a
market participant shall be accepted as long as the market
participant’s licence remains valid.

CHAPTER II

FLEGT LICENSING SCHEME

Article 3

The FLEGT licensing scheme shall apply only to imports

1.
from partner countries.

Each Partnership Agreement

2.
specify an agreed
schedule for implementing the commitments entered into by
that Agreement.

shall

2.
The competent authorities shall provide the Commission,
or persons or bodies designated by the Commission, with access
to the relevant documents and data, should problems arise
which impair the effective operation of the FLEGT licensing
scheme.

3.
The competent authorities shall grant to the persons or
bodies designated by partner countries as being responsible for
the third party monitoring of
the FLEGT licensing scheme
access to the relevant documents and data, but the competent
authorities shall not be required to provide any information
which they are not permitted to communicate pursuant
to
their national law.

Article 4

4.
The competent authorities shall decide on the need for
further verification of shipments using a risk-based approach.

1.
Imports into the Community of timber products exported
from partner countries shall be prohibited unless the shipment
is covered by a FLEGT licence.

2.
Existing schemes that guarantee the legality and reliable
tracking of timber products exported from partner countries
may form the basis of a FLEGT licence on condition that
those schemes have been assessed and approved in accordance
in order to
with the procedure referred to in Article 11(2),
provide the necessary assurance as to the legality of
the
timber products concerned.

5.
In case of doubt as to the validity of the licence, the
competent authorities may ask the licensing authorities for addi-
tional verification and seek further clarification, as set out in the
Partnership Agreement with the exporting partner country.

6. Member States may collect fees to cover the necessary
expenses arising from official acts by competent authorities
required for control purposes under this Article.

3.
Timber products of species listed in Annexes A, B and C
to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1996 on
the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating

7.
Customs authorities may suspend the release of or detain
timber products where they have reason to believe that the
licence may not be valid. Costs incurred while the verification
is completed shall be at the expense of the importer, except
where the Member State concerned determines otherwise.

(1) OJ L 302, 19.10.1992, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 648/2005 of the European Parliament and of the
Council (OJ L 117, 4.5.2005, p. 13);

(2) OJ L 61, 3.3.1997, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission

Regulation (EC) No 1332/2005 (OJ L 215, 19.8.2005, p. 1).

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Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be
8.
imposed where the provisions of this Regulation are infringed.
Such penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

9.
The Commission shall adopt detailed requirements for
application of this Article in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 11(3).

Article 6

If competent authorities establish that the requirement laid
1.
down in Article 4(1) is not fulfilled, they shall act in accordance
with national legislation in force.

2. Member States shall notify the Commission of any infor-
mation suggesting that the provisions of this Regulation are
being, or have been, circumvented.

Article 7

1. Member States shall designate the competent authorities
responsible for implementing this Regulation and for commu-
nicating with the Commission.

licensing authorities designated by partner

2.
The Commission shall provide all competent authorities of
the Member States with the names and other relevant details of
countries,
the
authenticated specimens of stamps and signatures attesting
that a licence has been legally issued, and any other relevant
information received in respect of licences.

Article 8

1. Member States shall be required to submit by 30 April an
annual report covering the previous calendar year, which shall
include the following:

(a) quantities of timber products imported into the Member
State under
the FLEGT licensing scheme, as per HS
Heading specified in Annexes II and III and per each
partner country;

(b) the number of FLEGT licences received, as per HS Heading
specified in Annexes II and III and per each partner country;

The Commission shall

lay down a format
to facilitate monitoring of

2.
reports
in order
licensing scheme.

30.12.2005

for annual
the FLEGT

3.
The Commission shall prepare by 30 June an annual
synthesis report based on the information submitted by the
Member States in their annual reports covering the previous
calendar year and shall make it accessible to the public in
accordance with Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of
the
European Parliament and of
the Council of 30 May 2001
regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents (1).

CHAPTER III

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 9

Two years after the entry into force of the first Partnership
Agreement the Commission shall present the Council with a
report on the implementation of
this Regulation, based in
particular on the synthesis reports referred to in Article 8(3)
and on the reviews of Partnership Agreements. This report shall
for
by
be
improvement of the FLEGT licensing scheme.

accompanied, where

appropriate,

proposals

Article 10

1.
The Commission may amend the list of partner countries
and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I
in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 11(3).

2.
The Commission may amend the list of timber products
as set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme
applies in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
11(3). Those amendments shall be adopted by the Commission
taking into account the implementation of the FLEGT Part-
comprise
nership Agreements.
six-digit
commodity codes, at
subheading level of
to the
Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System.

Such
amendments
four-digit heading level or
the current version of Annex I

shall

3.
The Commission may amend the list of timber products
as set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme
applies in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
11(3). Those amendments shall be adopted by the Commission
taking into account the implementation of the FLEGT Part-
comprise
nership Agreements.
six-digit
commodity codes, at
to the
subheading level of
Harmonised Commodity Description and Coding System and
shall only apply in relation to the corresponding partner
countries as set out in Annex III.

Such
amendments
four-digit heading level or
the current version of Annex I

shall

(c) the number of cases and quantities of

timber products

involved where Article 6(1) has been applied.

(1) OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43.

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Article 11

1.
The Commission shall be assisted by the Forest Law
Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Committee (here-
inafter referred to as the Committee).

3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

The period laid down in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and
7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply.

4.

The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC
shall be set at three months.

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publi-
cation in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 12

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 December 2005.

For the Council
The President

M. BECKETT

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ANNEX I

PARTNER COUNTRIES AND THEIR DESIGNATED LICENSING AUTHORITIES

Timber products to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies irrespective of the partner country

ANNEX II

HS heading

Description

4403

Wood in the rough, whether or not stripped of bark or sapwood, or roughly squared

4406

Railway or tramway sleepers (cross-ties) of wood

4407

4408

Wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or end-jointed, of a
thickness exceeding 6 mm

Sheets for veneering (including those obtained by slicing laminated wood), for plywood or for other
similar laminated wood and other wood, sawn lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed,
sanded, spliced or end-jointed, of a thickness not exceeding 6 mm

4412

Plywood, veneered panels and similar laminated wood

ANNEX III

Timber products to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation to the corresponding partner
countries

Partner country

HS heading

Description