Article 1 
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. 2. The licensing scheme shall be implemented through Partnership 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: 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 implementation in the Community, in particular in Community provisions on border controls; 2. ‘partner country’ means any State or regional organisation that enters into a Partnership Agreement, as listed in Annex I; 3. ‘Partnership Agreement’ means an agreement between the Community and a partner 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; 4. ‘regional organisation’ means an organisation consisting of sovereign states that have transferred competence to that organisation, granting it the capacity to enter into a Partnership Agreement on their behalf, in respect of matters governed by the FLEGT licensing scheme, as listed in Annex I; 5. ‘FLEGT licence’ means a shipment-based or market participant-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. Systems for issuing, recording and communicating licences may be paper-based or based on electronic means, as appropriate; 6. ‘market participant’ means an actor, private or public, involved in forestry or transformation or trade of timber products; 7. ‘licensing authority(ies)’ means the authority(ies) designated by a partner country to issue and validate FLEGT licences; 8. ‘competent authority(ies)’ means the authority(ies) designated by Member States to verify FLEGT licences; 9. ‘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 qualified as ‘goods of a non-commercial nature’ 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 ) ; 10. ‘legally produced timber’ means timber products produced from domestic timber that was legally harvested or timber that was legally imported into a partner country in accordance with national laws determined by that partner country as set out in the Partnership Agreement; 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 ( 3 ) 12. ‘shipment’ means a shipment of timber products; 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; 14. ‘third-party monitoring’ means a system through which an organisation that is independent of a partner country's government authorities and its forest and timber sector monitors and reports on the operation of the FLEGT licensing scheme.
Article 3 
1. The FLEGT licensing scheme shall apply only to imports from partner countries. 2. Each Partnership Agreement shall specify an agreed schedule for implementing the commitments entered into by that Agreement.
Article 4 
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 with the procedure referred to in Article 11(2), in order to provide the necessary assurance as to the legality of the timber products concerned. 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 trade therein ( 4 ) shall be exempt from the requirement 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.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) makes a distinction between the powers delegated to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act as laid down in Article 290(1) of the TFEU (delegated acts), and the powers conferred upon the Commission to adopt uniform conditions for implementing legally binding Union acts as laid down in Article 291(2) of the TFEU (implementing acts). In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005[1] to the new rules of the TFEU, powers currently conferred to the Commission by that Regulation have been re-classified into measures of delegated nature and measures of implementing nature. Following this exercise, a draft proposal for amendment of Regulation (EC) No.2173/2005 has been prepared. Pursuant to Article 290 of the Treaty, the Legislator gives the Commission the task to complete or modify certain non-essential elements of that Regulation. The Commission may therefore adopt delegated acts to review the exemption of 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 trade therein[2]. The Commission is further empowered to adopt detailed requirements for application of Article 5. By means of delegated acts the Commission may also amend the list of partner countries and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I; the list of timber products set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies irrespective of the partner country as well as the list of timber products set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation of the corresponding partner country.
Revised version (Article 4 ):
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. In order to provide the necessary assurance as to the legality of the timber products concerned, the Commission shall assess existing schemes that guarantee the legality and reliable tracking of timber products exported from partner countries, and adopt implementing acts to approve them. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 11(3). The schemes approved by the Commission may form the basis of a FLEGT licence. 3. Timber products of species listed in Annexes A, B and C to Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 ( 4 ) shall be exempt from the requirement laid down in paragraph 1 of this Article. The Commission shall review that exemption, taking into account market developments and the experience gained in the implementation of this Regulation, shall report on its findings to the European Parliament and to the Council and, if necessary, shall come forward with appropriate legislative proposals.
Article 5 
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 FLEGT licence together with the corresponding customs declaration. 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. 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. 4. The competent authorities shall decide on the need for further verification of shipments using a risk-based approach. 5. In case of doubt as to the validity of the licence, the competent authorities may ask the licensing authorities for additional 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. 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. 8. Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be 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).
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) makes a distinction between the powers delegated to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act as laid down in Article 290(1) of the TFEU (delegated acts), and the powers conferred upon the Commission to adopt uniform conditions for implementing legally binding Union acts as laid down in Article 291(2) of the TFEU (implementing acts). In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005[1] to the new rules of the TFEU, powers currently conferred to the Commission by that Regulation have been re-classified into measures of delegated nature and measures of implementing nature. Following this exercise, a draft proposal for amendment of Regulation (EC) No.2173/2005 has been prepared. Pursuant to Article 290 of the Treaty, the Legislator gives the Commission the task to complete or modify certain non-essential elements of that Regulation. The Commission may therefore adopt delegated acts to review the exemption of 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 trade therein[2]. The Commission is further empowered to adopt detailed requirements for application of Article 5. By means of delegated acts the Commission may also amend the list of partner countries and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I; the list of timber products set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies irrespective of the partner country as well as the list of timber products set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation of the corresponding partner country.
Revised version (Article 5 ):
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 FLEGT licence together with the corresponding customs declaration. 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. 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. 4. The competent authorities shall decide on the need for further verification of shipments using a risk-based approach. 5. In case of doubt as to the validity of the licence, the competent authorities may ask the licensing authorities for additional 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. 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. 8. Each Member State shall determine the penalties to be imposed where the provisions of this Regulation are infringed. Such penalties shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. 9. In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Article, the Commission shall, by means of implementing acts, adopt the procedural modalities and the documents of a standard format, including their possible means. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 11(3).
Article 6 
1. If competent authorities establish that the requirement laid 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 information 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 communicating with the Commission. 2. The Commission shall provide all competent authorities of the Member States with the names and other relevant details of the licensing authorities designated by partner countries, 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; (c) the number of cases and quantities of timber products involved where Article 6(1) has been applied. 2. The Commission shall lay down a format for annual reports in order to facilitate monitoring of the FLEGT licensing scheme. 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 ( 5 ) .
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In June 2017, the Commission published a comprehensive Fitness Check evaluation on reporting and monitoring of EU environment policy 1 ('the Fitness Check evaluation') and drew up an action plan. Action 1 noted that some streamlining of reporting can best be achieved through amending the relevant legislative provisions. To implement this action, legislative amendments can be prepared one-by-one or grouped together in one proposal, which amends several pieces of environmental legislation in relation to their reporting provisions only (‘the alignment proposal’). This alignment proposal has been prepared on the basis of the evidence in the Fitness Check evaluation and other evaluations that were recently carried out on individual pieces of legislation. The alignment proposal’s objectives are to improve the evidence base for implementing EU policy, increase transparency for the public and simplify reporting with a view to reducing administrative burden. Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area The proposal forms part of the activities on better regulation in the field of environment policy. Consistent approaches on environmental reporting and monitoring were part of the Fitness Check evaluation. The proposal also contributes to priority objective 4, paragraph 65, of the 7th Environment Action Programme 2 , which requires that the public has access to clear environmental information at national level. It will also help the public have an overview of what is happening in the environmental field in Europe as a whole and will help national public authorities handle cross-border issues. To that end, the proposal makes cross-references and guarantees consistency with the requirements of Directive 2003/4/EC on access to environmental information 3 and of the Directive 2007/2/EC on spatial data 4 . A cross-cutting and comprehensive analysis of reporting obligations in all relevant pieces of environment legislation has been carried out in the context of the Fitness Check evaluation 5 . This also looked at the coherence of existing obligations. As a result, several pieces of legislation were identified 6 where the reporting obligations could be amended to streamline them. The proposal has been prepared to ensure a consistent approach across the various pieces of legislation by, as appropriate: · increasing transparency; · providing an evidence base for future evaluations; · simplifying and reducing administrative burden for the Member States and the Commission. It is also consistent with the Commission’s recent proposal to revise the Drinking Water Directive 7 , which factored in the results of the Fitness Check evaluation. 
Revised version (Article 8 ):
1. Member States shall make available to the public and to the Commission, at the latest by 30 April of each year, information on the application of this Regulation during the previous calendar year. 2. The Commission shall establish, by means of implementing acts, the format and the procedure for Member States to make available the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 11(3). 3. Based on the information referred to in paragraph 1, the Commission services shall make publicly available, on an annual basis, a Union-wide overview on the basis of the data submitted by Member States.
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 be accompanied, where appropriate, by proposals for improvement of the FLEGT licensing scheme.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal In June 2017, the Commission published a comprehensive Fitness Check evaluation on reporting and monitoring of EU environment policy 1 ('the Fitness Check evaluation') and drew up an action plan. Action 1 noted that some streamlining of reporting can best be achieved through amending the relevant legislative provisions. To implement this action, legislative amendments can be prepared one-by-one or grouped together in one proposal, which amends several pieces of environmental legislation in relation to their reporting provisions only (‘the alignment proposal’). This alignment proposal has been prepared on the basis of the evidence in the Fitness Check evaluation and other evaluations that were recently carried out on individual pieces of legislation. The alignment proposal’s objectives are to improve the evidence base for implementing EU policy, increase transparency for the public and simplify reporting with a view to reducing administrative burden. Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area The proposal forms part of the activities on better regulation in the field of environment policy. Consistent approaches on environmental reporting and monitoring were part of the Fitness Check evaluation. The proposal also contributes to priority objective 4, paragraph 65, of the 7th Environment Action Programme 2 , which requires that the public has access to clear environmental information at national level. It will also help the public have an overview of what is happening in the environmental field in Europe as a whole and will help national public authorities handle cross-border issues. To that end, the proposal makes cross-references and guarantees consistency with the requirements of Directive 2003/4/EC on access to environmental information 3 and of the Directive 2007/2/EC on spatial data 4 . A cross-cutting and comprehensive analysis of reporting obligations in all relevant pieces of environment legislation has been carried out in the context of the Fitness Check evaluation 5 . This also looked at the coherence of existing obligations. As a result, several pieces of legislation were identified 6 where the reporting obligations could be amended to streamline them. The proposal has been prepared to ensure a consistent approach across the various pieces of legislation by, as appropriate: · increasing transparency; · providing an evidence base for future evaluations; · simplifying and reducing administrative burden for the Member States and the Commission. It is also consistent with the Commission’s recent proposal to revise the Drinking Water Directive 7 , which factored in the results of the Fitness Check evaluation. 
Revised version (Article 9 ):
By December 2021 and every five years thereafter, the Commission shall, on the basis of information, in particular the information referred to in Article 8(1), and experience with the application of this Regulation, review the functioning and effectiveness of this Regulation. In doing so, it shall take into account the progress on implementation of the voluntary Partnership Agreements. The Commission shall report to the European Parliament and to the Council on the result of the review every five years and accompany such reports where appropriate, by proposals for improvement of the FLEGT licensing scheme.
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 Partnership Agreements. Such amendments shall 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. 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 Partnership Agreements. Such amendments shall 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 and shall only apply in relation to the corresponding partner countries as set out in Annex III.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) makes a distinction between the powers delegated to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act as laid down in Article 290(1) of the TFEU (delegated acts), and the powers conferred upon the Commission to adopt uniform conditions for implementing legally binding Union acts as laid down in Article 291(2) of the TFEU (implementing acts). In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005[1] to the new rules of the TFEU, powers currently conferred to the Commission by that Regulation have been re-classified into measures of delegated nature and measures of implementing nature. Following this exercise, a draft proposal for amendment of Regulation (EC) No.2173/2005 has been prepared. Pursuant to Article 290 of the Treaty, the Legislator gives the Commission the task to complete or modify certain non-essential elements of that Regulation. The Commission may therefore adopt delegated acts to review the exemption of 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 trade therein[2]. The Commission is further empowered to adopt detailed requirements for application of Article 5. By means of delegated acts the Commission may also amend the list of partner countries and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I; the list of timber products set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies irrespective of the partner country as well as the list of timber products set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation of the corresponding partner country.
Revised version (Article 10 ):
1. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 11a to amend the list of partner countries and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I. 2. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 11a to amend the list of timber products as set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies. In adopting those amendments, the Commission shall take into account the implementation of the FLEGT Partnership Agreements. Such amendments shall 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. 3. The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 11a to amend the list of timber products as set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies. In adopting those amendments, the Commission shall take into account the implementation of the FLEGT Partnership Agreements. Such amendments shall 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 and shall only apply in relation to the corresponding partner countries as set out in Annex III.
Article 11 
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Committee). 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply. The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months. 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. 4. The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) makes a distinction between the powers delegated to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act as laid down in Article 290(1) of the TFEU (delegated acts), and the powers conferred upon the Commission to adopt uniform conditions for implementing legally binding Union acts as laid down in Article 291(2) of the TFEU (implementing acts). In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005[1] to the new rules of the TFEU, powers currently conferred to the Commission by that Regulation have been re-classified into measures of delegated nature and measures of implementing nature. Following this exercise, a draft proposal for amendment of Regulation (EC) No.2173/2005 has been prepared. Pursuant to Article 290 of the Treaty, the Legislator gives the Commission the task to complete or modify certain non-essential elements of that Regulation. The Commission may therefore adopt delegated acts to review the exemption of 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 trade therein[2]. The Commission is further empowered to adopt detailed requirements for application of Article 5. By means of delegated acts the Commission may also amend the list of partner countries and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I; the list of timber products set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies irrespective of the partner country as well as the list of timber products set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation of the corresponding partner country.
Revised version (Article 11 ):
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 6 ). 3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 12 
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) makes a distinction between the powers delegated to the Commission to adopt non-legislative acts of general application to supplement or amend certain non-essential elements of the legislative act as laid down in Article 290(1) of the TFEU (delegated acts), and the powers conferred upon the Commission to adopt uniform conditions for implementing legally binding Union acts as laid down in Article 291(2) of the TFEU (implementing acts). In the context of the alignment of Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005[1] to the new rules of the TFEU, powers currently conferred to the Commission by that Regulation have been re-classified into measures of delegated nature and measures of implementing nature. Following this exercise, a draft proposal for amendment of Regulation (EC) No.2173/2005 has been prepared. Pursuant to Article 290 of the Treaty, the Legislator gives the Commission the task to complete or modify certain non-essential elements of that Regulation. The Commission may therefore adopt delegated acts to review the exemption of 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 trade therein[2]. The Commission is further empowered to adopt detailed requirements for application of Article 5. By means of delegated acts the Commission may also amend the list of partner countries and their designated licensing authorities as set out in Annex I; the list of timber products set out in Annex II to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies irrespective of the partner country as well as the list of timber products set out in Annex III to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation of the corresponding partner country.
Revised version (Article 12 ):
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.