Indonesia has shipped verified legal timber and timber products worth more than EUR 1 billion to the EU since it began issuing such products with FLEGT licences one year ago.
According to EU FLEGT Facility, the licences confirm that the products comply with relevant laws and automatically meet the requirements of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which prohibits the placement of illegal timber products on the EU market.
The FLEGT licensing scheme is an outcome of the Indonesia-EU Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on forest governance, law enforcement and trade.
Indonesia and the EU are in close and regular communication to further strengthen the licensing system, working together to address some practical implementation issues that were identified as Indonesia’s FLEGT timber enters the EU market.
Meanwhile, the FLEGT Independent Market Monitor has surveyed operators in the EU and found that the large majority of respondents welcomed the start of FLEGT-licensing in Indonesia.
Under the VPA, Indonesia has implemented a nationwide timber legality assurance system and other reforms that have increased transparency, accountability and stakeholder participation in the forest sector.
Facts
About FLEGT
FLEGT – Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade. The EU published the EU FLEGT Action Plan in 2003. The Action Plan aims to reduce illegal logging by strengthening the sustainability and legality of forest management, improving forest governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber. FLEGT takes a multidimensional, coherent approach to overcoming the complex drivers and enablers of illegal logging. The EU FLEGT Action Plan sets out seven measures that together prevent the importation of illegal timber into the EU, improve the supply of legal timber and increase demand for timber from responsibly managed forests.
