Transcript Integrating Environment into Programming

EU Action Plan for Forest
Law Enforcement,
Governance and Trade
Chatham House Update
July 2007
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
The EU FLEGT Action Plan
Measures to combat illegal logging and associated trade by
influencing both demand and supply.
 Partnership agreements with producer countries that support:
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Governance reforms
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Measures to regulate and control timber trade
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Measures that verify legality of products
Measures to increase demand for legally sourced timber:
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Public procurement policies
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Private sector initiatives, eg Timber Assoc. Codes
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Financing and investment, eg lending criteria
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Awareness raising: Forum C.Africa, China, C.America
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
FLEGT Partnerships:
a binding agreement between the EU and a Partner Country by
which we undertake to work together to stop illegal logging and
improve forest management
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will strengthen producer countries efforts to improve
governance, including measures to build capacity, improve
control and monitoring, enhance transparency support measures to
mitigate any negative impacts on poor people
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will establish export licenses for the EU based on legality
verification. Legality = appropriate laws of partner country
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will secure and improve EU market access
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Building partnerships
A phased consultation process
to introduce the opportunities of the FLEGT;
encourage debate and analysis of governance
challenges;
provide a platform for different stakeholder
groups to engage,
a structured negotiation framework and finally
a legally binding agreed plan of action to improve
governance and trade
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Building partnerships (2)
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Introduction to stakeholders: discussions on-going in many
countries led by NGOs, private sector, and EU
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Structured consultations to prepare for negotiations in several
countries (eg Liberia, Gabon, Central Africa Republic, DRC): to
build awareness & support, to agree legality definition, to diagnose
problems, improve verification systems, id. governance challenges
 July 3/4 Central Africa FLEGT Forum; June 29 Liberia
National FLEGT Workshop
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Formal negotiations on the agreement & accompanying measures:
Malaysia, Indonesia, Ghana in negotiations & to conclude late
2007/early 2008. Congo & Cameroon have decided to negotiate;
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Implementation: develop new systems & capacities of government,
civil society, private sector : FLEGT licensing will likely be later
allowing time for upgrade of systems
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
The key elements of VPA
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Legality Assurance System AND
Measures to mitigate negative impacts on poor
Capacity building for Gov’t,NGOs, pvt sector
Transparency measures
Trade promotion
Consultation and communications
Monitoring
Legislative/ regulatory reforms where relevant
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Legality Assurance system
FLEGT licensing requires a Legality Assurance
System (LAS) which has 5 components
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A definition of legally-produced timber
A system to verify compliance with definition
A system to trace products from forest to export
A licensing system for exports
Independent monitoring of all components
Guidance is now available on principles and criteria for
the Legality Assurance Systems to meet FLEGT
requirements including for independent monitoring
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Challenges in VPA negotiations
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Getting the balance right: responsive, positive, but
slow enough to build strong alliances for action in
country while maintaining EU stakeholder support for
FLEGT
The market: where is the carrot? we want to create
market advantage for verified legal, but price
premiums not likely;
Legality: all laws are important but where are the
bounds for verification?
Consultations: important for legitimacy, quality,
accountability, but also take time
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Ideas being debated in VPA
negotiation
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FLEGT License may apply for all exports
Better regulation of domestic market
Wider product scope to include main export types
Strong stakeholder involvement in developing
negotiation positions can lead to a shift in working
relationships between state and non state actors
Growth in COC and company based legality
verification may serve to address problem of how to
handle third country imports
All countries cast FLEGT VPA as foundation nfor
achieving sustaibable forest management certification
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Measures to improve the market for
FLEGT licensed products
Partnership Agreements blend development and
trade measures. They are strengthened by actions
that influence the market, such as:
 Member State public procurement
 Private sector initiatives
 Measures to ensure responsible investments
Trade promotion for verified legal
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Public Procurement
Public procurement policies are very influential in leading
the market. Be, DK, F, NL, UK, DE and Japan have
introduced procurement policies.
New EU Communication on Green Public Procurement
policies is under discussion and will include a focus on
timber. We aim to:
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We encourage more countries to adopt similar policies: this
helps make FLEGT partnerships more attractive.
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We need better coherence between national schemes.
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Policies should include a minimum standard of verified
legal forest products. FLEGT licence should provide
evidence of legality
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Private sector initiatives
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Private sector is very engaged. Recognise status quo undermines
legitimate business & image of timber as a green product.
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Dialogue between EU industry & developing country operators
helps create awareness and support for FLEGT
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Responsible purchasing codes of trade federations in UK, Spain,
France, NL& Germany encourage members to promote trade in
legal and certified timber
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Trade networks for legal and sustainable products and business to
business partnerships are increasingly popular and help create
awareness and support for FLEGT partnerships; Work underway
with different initiatives in Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Malaysia,
Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, CAR, Ghana, Brazil, Bolivia, Guyana
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Regional Initiatives build political
support
Central Africa FLEGT Forum July 2007
Central America Ministers meeting late 2007
Joint EU-China Ministerial meeting on illegal logging:
Sept 2007
East Africa FLEG process and Ministerial Council of
East Africa Community
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EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Conclusions
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Growing awareness and interest in FLEGT in producer
countries
Need to focus on VPAs & ensuring they build strong
engagement with the private sector and civil society
Systems & standards developed for the VPAs may
influence private sector initiatives & other consumer
markets
The Commission recognises need for:
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Improved communications to build greater support for
FLEGT
Guidance needed on the process to prepare for VPA
More stakeholder meetings to discuss guidance on elements
of Legality Assurance Systems
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade
Thank you
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
New web address
http://ec.europa.eu/development/Policies/9Interventionareas/Environment/forest/Forestry_intro_en.cfm
EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade