1. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade FLEGT EU demand-side measures Beijing, 18 June 2008 Vincent van den Berk European Commission

2. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade EU demand-side measures Create market incentives for legal timber through: FPrivate sector initiatives; FSupport the implementation of VPA agreements; FGreen public procurement policies; FAdditional legal options.

3. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Green Public Procurement I FProcurement = EU Member State competency; FPolicies in place: BE-DE-DK-ES-FR-IT-NL-UK; F10-20% of market on average with main effects on construction, furniture and paper products; FMost policies focus on sustainability only, some also recognise legality.

4. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Green Public Procurement II New Green Public Procurement Communication: FFollows from earlier agreed initiatives; FIdentifies wood products as a priority category; FAims to develop a process of cooperation with the MS to identify applicable procurement criteria;

5. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Green Public Procurement III link to FLEGT in the New GPP Communication: FMS are recommended to stipulate – as minimum – the use of legal timber; FAdvocates a stepwise approach from legality towards sustainability for developing countries

6. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Additional legal options I The process on additional options (to reinforce VPA’s): F2006/07: Internet and stakeholder consultations FEnd 2007: Impact assessment study FJune 2008: Proposal in Inter-Services Consultations F3 rd quarter 2008: Proposal presented to Council and EP

7. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Additional legal options II FOption 1: VPA expansion FOption 2: Voluntary private sector schemes FOption 3: Ban on imports FOption 4a: Prohibition on trading illegal timber FOption 4b: mandatory private sector legality guarantee Conclusion: all options have their limitations FNew Option: ‘due diligence’

8. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Due diligence proposal I Key characteristics of the proposed regulation: FAim: To recognize the efforts of producers/traders that invest in the legality of their timber products; FProduct scope: round wood; sawn timber; veneer, panels, wooden furniture, pulp, paper, wood chips; FFocus: The act of placing timber products on the Community market.

9. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Due diligence proposal II FObligation: traders to demonstrate due diligence in ensuring the legality of the produce traded; FLegality: legislation applicable in country of harvest; FSystems: traders may develop their own verification and COC systems or use existing systems; FRisk: Use of risk assessment procedure;

10. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Due diligence proposal III FGuidance: Criteria for due diligence to be developed through an additional procedure, based on the work of an Advisory group FExemptions: FLEGT and CITES timber; FEnforcement: Check on use of due diligence systems by the Member States;

11. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Expected effects FLevel playing field: Requires all EU traders to use due diligence; FRisk management: provides an incentive to source imports from low risk rather than high risk suppliers; FIncentive for FLEGT: Provides partner countries with an incentive to join FLEGT

12. EU Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Vincent.van-den-berk@ec.europa.eu Thank you