TOPICS 180. FLEGT Combating illegal logging as a contribution towards sustainable development

Transcription

1 TOPICS 180 FLEGT Combating illegal logging as a contribution towards sustainable development

2 Contents Contents Introduction Illegal logging a global phenomenon with far-reaching impacts Internationale and European strategies Basic understanding International organisations and forums The EU FLEGT Action Plan Interim results Objectives, basic principles and strategic approach Objective and basic principles Achieving sustainability via legality Country selection and instruments Identifying partner countries and regions Instruments Implementation at the country and regional levels Sub-Saharan Africa Amazon countries Central America Southeast Asia China, Russia, ENA-FLEG region Shaping European and international policy Annex I: List of Abbreviations II: Definition of legally produced timber EU FLEGT Briefing Note No III: Literature IV: Ministerial Processes V: Websites

3 Introduction Combating illegal logging and licensing the import of legal timber products, particularly into industrialised countries, constitutes a key topic in the international debate on the sustainable use of timber, in particular from tropical forests. To curb malpractice in this area, the EU Commission drew up a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan in Germany supports this Action Plan, which aims to ensure the reliable import of legally harvested timber and associated timber products through Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with timber-producing countries. At the same time, this contributes to implementing sustainable forest management in tropical countries. This document serves as a guide for German development cooperation measures and is designed as a point of reference for the dayto-day activities of German implementing institutions working in this area. It complements the 2002 sector strategy Forests and Sustainable Development by incorporating an increasingly important field of action. 3

4 1. Summary Illegal logging and trade in illegally harvested timber constitutes a widespread phenomenon in many developing countries. Illegal logging contributes to the destruction of forests worldwide, and its far-reaching impacts go far beyond the confines of the forest sector. FLEGT is therefore a key field of action of international forest policy. Since the Plan of Implementation was adopted by the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002, there has been a fundamental global awareness of the urgent need to combat illegal activities in the forest sector. As far back as 1998, the G8 states made a commitment to promote measures to combat illegal logging. Since 2001, the World Bank has been assisting regional processes whereby participating countries undertake to implement FLEG measures. In 2003, the EU adopted its FLEGT Action Plan, cornerstones of which include a licensing scheme for timber and Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with timber-producing countries. Both the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) have incorporated FLEGT measures into their work programmes. Although there is a keen awareness at political level also among many timber-producing countries of the need to curb illegal logging and trade in illegal timber products, actual implementation is still difficult and results to date have been limited. The proposals for action to combat illegal activities in the forest sector outlined in this paper should be seen as an intermediate step towards achieving sustainable forest management. Development-policy measures to promote FLEGT aim to support the partners own commitment to introducing and implementing reforms relating to good governance, combating corruption and supporting law enforcement. Advisory services to partner countries and regions adopt a multi-level approach that incorporates all instruments of German development cooperation. FLEGT-relevant measures have already been integrated into many ongoing bilateral development cooperation projects and programmes. This strategy provides ideas on how to extend this commitment, taking account of the specific national and regional features of FLEGT policies. 4

5 2. Illegal logging a global phenomenon with far-reaching impacts It is estimated that up to 90 per cent of timber in some countries is illegally harvested. In addition to the inestimable ecological and social damage this causes, the World Bank reckons that between ten and fifteen billion US dollars are lost every year in private- and public-sector income due to the illegal use of timber. Corruption and disputes over land rights go hand-in-hand with illegal logging and may develop into violent conflicts or exacerbate existing conflicts. Timber is deemed to be illegally logged if it does not comply with the national legislation that applies at the place of felling. In this context, the relevant legal framework covers all laws and statutory provisions related to logging and deforestation, in addition to national forestry legislation. Illegal logging wipes out nature conservation areas and biological diversity is irretrievably lost. The resource base of population groups who depend on the forest for their survival is destroyed. The knock-on effects of illegal logging can be felt all the way to the consumer markets in industrialised countries. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) call for a boycott on tropical timber, wood as a manufacturing material falls into disrepute and is replaced by other materials, and retail chains remove tropical woods from their shelves or stock only certified products - a move that is very welcome indeed. 3. International and European strategies In recent years, the political pressure exerted by international NGOs in particular has increased dramatically. The topic of illegal logging is being discussed in international dialogue forums and the awareness of the media and consumer markets particularly in the EU has been raised. 3.1 Basic understanding At the international level, measures to combat illegal logging are grouped under the umbrella term Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG). Although FLEG is regarded as a contribution to sustainable forest management, the approach itself focuses on the phenomenon of illegality and lack of law enforcement, that is, contraventions of national legislation in the timber-producing country, which are believed to be one of the main causes of forest destruction. At the European level, the acronym also includes a T, for trade. By widening the scope of the strategy to Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT), the EU underlines the shared responsibility of both consumers and producers and the importance of trade which can use incentives to promote legal practices. 5

6 A basic assumption of FLEGT is that national legislation adequately reflects the three pillars of sustainable forest management - economic viability, social equity and environmental sustainability. Thus, abolishing illegal trade and promoting legal practices ought to help achieve sustainable forest management and development. 3.2 International organisations and forums The G8 states made a commitment to measures to combat illegal logging as far back as They reaffirmed this commitment most recently at the 2007 G8 summit in Heiligendamm. The principle of sharing responsibility between timberconsuming and timber-producing countries received particular mention in this context. Since September 2001, the World Bank - together with selected countries, NGOs and other donors - has been supporting regional FLEG processes and ministerial conferences at which participating states commit themselves to implementing FLEG measures. The expanded programme of work on Forest Biological Diversity (FBD) of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) outlines specific activities related to governance and law enforcement. In addition to supporting trade in sustainably produced timber, the 2006 International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) drawn up by ITTO specifies sustainable forest management and the legal use of tropical forests (in other words, FLEGT activities) among its objectives. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) also provides a framework for imposing trade restrictions for selected endangered species of trees. International civil society has a key role to play as a catalyst in combating illegal logging. International networks, research institutions, the private sector and NGOs such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), Greenpeace, Forest Trends, the Environmental Investigation Agency, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Global Witness have established special programmes and set up forums such as The Forests Dialogue (TFD), a multi-stakeholder forum. The two forest partnerships, the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) and the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP), set up in Johannesburg in 2002, have also incorporated the combating of illegal logging into their work agendas. In the Non-Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests adopted in 2007 at the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF7 Session), member states made a commitment to take concrete measures against illegal practices and to improve cooperation to counter trade in illegally harvested timber. 3.3 The EU FLEGT Action Plan With a view to stopping the import of illegal timber into the EU, and combating illegal logging in timber-producing countries, the EU adopted its FLEGT Action Plan in 2003 and a regulation on the establishment of a FLEGT licensing scheme in 2005 (13660/05). Both of these documents are in keeping with the principle of shared responsibility. The main instruments of the Action Plan include a Legality Assurance System (FLEGT license) for felled timber and VPAs between the EU and national governments, which cover roundwood and semi-finished goods: roundwood and sawn wood, veneer and plywood products. The Action Plan focuses on four key regions or countries that grow almost 60 per cent of the worlds forests and produce the majority of timber traded internationally. These are Central Africa, Russia, Tropical South America and Southeast Asia. 6

7 The Plan aims to help timber-producing countries combat illegal logging. Particular importance will be attached to achieving balanced and socially equitable solutions, transparency, setting up verification systems, building capacities within the administration and civil society, and reforming policy. Within the EU, measures are to be taken to improve public procurement procedures, assist privatesector initiatives, investigate investments, curb money laundering schemes, and consolidate existing legal instruments. The problem of conflict timber is also being addressed, for example by supporting relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. Germany has played a key role in all international and regional processes and has the required development-policy instruments in place to effectively assist implementation of the EU s FLEGT Action Plan. Measures to promote FLEGT have already been incorporated into many German development cooperation projects and programmes. It is now crucial, within the scope of dialogue with partners, to strengthen or complement ongoing measures appropriately, and help these countries integrate FLEGT measures into relevant areas of their existing policies with the help of pertinent strategies. Some EU member states have taken on the role of a VPA mentor, to prepare the negotiation of partnership agreements with timber-producing countries. In the long-term, the EU aims to draw up multilateral regulations that will also involve other consumers, particularly the USA, China and Japan. A recent resolution of the European Parliament called for rapid action and a general ban on imports of illegally logged timber. 3.4 Interim results FLEGT has become one of the most crucial topics in international forest policy. Using regional political processes, awareness of illegal logging has been raised at the regional level and the topic has been put on national political agendas. However, many countries have still to take specific measures in this regard. Within the framework of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, further joint activities are required, to strengthen ownership of partner countries and implement suitable measures. At the EU level, the FLEGT Action Plan is an important instrument for implementing the measures necessary to combat illegal logging in EU partner countries. 7

8 4. Objectives, basic principles and strategic approach 4.1 Objective and basic principles FLEGT measures aim to make an effective contribution to legality, the sustainable use of natural resources and sustainable development at the local and national levels by promoting good governance and law enforcement. They thus help secure the livelihoods of forest dwelling and forest dependent people and make a concrete contribution to poverty reduction. Development cooperation measures to promote FLEGT are based on four fundamental principles: > Measures to combat illegal practices in the forest sector constitute an intermediate step towards sustainable forest management and will help achieve this goal in the long term. > FLEGT is not a standalone objective. It is an integral part of overarching developmentpolicy goals that will help bring about sustainable and socially equitable development. > Development cooperation measures to promote FLEGT are in keeping with the basic international consensus on the shared responsibility of timber-producing and consumer countries for the sustainable and legal use of natural resources. > These measures also promote partners own commitment to introducing and implementing reforms in forestry policy and in other relevant policy areas that will promote good governance, combat corruption and underpin law enforcement. 4.2 Achieving sustainability via legality Law enforcement can only boost sustainability if existing legislation adequately reflects the three pillars of sustainable forest management: Economic viability, social equity and environmental sustainability. Therefore, support for FLEGT measures not only presupposes the clear political will on the part of partners, but also the existence of certain minimum legal standards. The negotiation mandate for consultations on EU FLEGT VPAs specifies criteria that verify whether or not these basic prerequisites have been met. If key basic requirements have not yet been met, initial support measures can be provided to help potential partners introduce legal reforms to promote sustainable forest management and design participation mechanisms. 8

9 5. Country selection and instruments 5.1 Identifying partner countries and regions countries be incorporated into FLEGT strategies at the regional level. Given the magnitude of the task in hand, German development cooperation support is to target primarily partner countries and regions that meet one or more of the following criteria and with whom environment and natural resource management has been agreed as a priority area of cooperation: > Illegal logging is particularly widespread, and may be used to fund armed conflict. > Forest destruction as a result of illegal logging is particularly relevant to poverty in the partner country, in part due to the serious loss of fiscal revenues. > Strong demand and a heavy reliance on imports increase pressure on other countries and regions in terms of trade policy or encourage illegal logging in neighbouring countries. Other priorities in work with partner countries are geared to needs and political momentum. Sustaining the regional processes at political level and continuing Germany s commitment to helping the EU implement its FLEGT Action Plan are paramount in this context. At the regional level, anchor countries such as India, China and Brazil have a key role to play in ensuring the success of FLEGT measures, given that timber and timber products are important factors in regional trade. Given the size of their economies, these countries are a lynchpin in regional economic development and can promote, or indeed block, regional FLEGT processes. It is therefore crucial that anchor 5.2 Instruments Technical cooperation (GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit): Capacity-development and promotion of good governance are the main fields of action for technical cooperation. Cooperation targets all levels of intervention and provides a framework for the successful use of other instruments. Activities are supported as required by the German Development Service (DED) and the Centrum für Internationale Migration und Entwicklung (CIM). Capacity Building International, Germany (InWEnt) can also provide valuable contributions in this context by training sectoral and managerial personnel. Financial cooperation (KfW Entwicklungsbank KfW development bank): Financial cooperation plays an important role in technology transfers, to put in place systems to monitor logging and timber transport and verify legality. These activities have a major role to play in ensuring that the technical requirements for successful law enforcement are in place. NGOs: Promoting the participation of civil society and the development and implementation of independent monitoring of the FLEGT legality assurance system are the main fields of cooperation with NGOs. They can help raise the awareness of partner organisations and openly discuss topics that cannot be freely addressed within the framework of governmental cooperation. 9

10 Public Private Partnerships (PPP): The private sector is a key partner for the successful implementation of FLEGT measures, for sustainable forest management and for poverty reduction. In addition to specific cooperation measures with local communities and small and medium-sized enterprises, strategies include fostering voluntary commitments and promoting voluntary market instruments such as the certification of sustainable forest products. 6. Implementation at the country and regional levels 6.1 Sub-Saharan Africa The first African Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (AFLEG) Ministerial Conference instigated a political process to combat illegal logging in Central Africa. Since then, the heads of state and government of the states of the Congo Basin have repeatedly expressed their political will to combat illegal logging and have incorporated the topic into regional programmes, particularly those run by the Commission des Forêts d Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC) and the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP). The implementation of FLEGT measures is at an early stage in most countries, however. FLEGT measures in sub-saharan Africa have the potential to make significant contributions to good governance, the focal topic for German development cooperation in the region. Currently, the Congo Basin is the most important sub-region for FLEGT. Development cooperation s strategic approach in this region targets three main fields of intervention: > Bilateral cooperation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Cameroon, for whom Germany has taken on the role of VPA mentor > Advisory services and support for COMIFAC s Executive Secretariat > Policy support for the FLEG process in Africa and the CBFP. In the long term, it is hoped that a regional FLEGT VPA can be concluded between the EU and COMIFAC countries and closer linkages established with peace and security policies in Central Africa. A regional FLEGT strategy which includes a regional chain of custody system is currently being developed and plays a key role, as COMIFAC regards certification (for example, the FSC) as a positive market instrument. To support these activities, COMIFAC s Convergence Plan provides for the harmonisation of customs regulations and joint training measures for customs authorities. A joint VPA mentorship for the entire region would be conceivable in cooperation with France, the United Kingdom and suitable NGO and private-sector partners. In autumn 2007, Germany will assume responsibility for facilitating the CBFP, and in this way can further promote regional interest in the FLEGT process. To this end, other ministries and departments (for example, finance, trade, economics, and internal security) will increasingly have to be involved in the FLEGT process. 10

11 6.2 Amazon countries In the Amazon countries no FLEGT process has been initiated. The first tentative activities in this general direction could emerge from the ALFA workshop on the application of forest legislation, which was hosted by the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organisation (ACTO) in August It is not yet clear whether this workshop - which was supported by the ITTO, FAO, German development cooperation and the World Bank will initiate a political process. 6.3 Central America Together with the Central American environmental organisations Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo (CCAD) and the Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano (CAC), the World Bank is currently devising a concept for a FLEG ministerial conference and a work programme for forest directors in Central America. The work programme will build on the Puembo II initiative 1 and deals primarily with mechanisms to promote civil society participation in decision-making processes. An ITTO/FAO workshop on the application of forest legislation in Central America is intended to involve decision-makers in the FLEGT process to a greater extent. Key tasks of German development cooperation are to raise the awareness of political decision-makers by promoting a trans-national exchange of experience and political dialogue, for which the Puembo II initiative is also to be used. Important entry points include value chains, market incentives for sustainably produced products (for example, certificates) and incentives to comply with forestry legislation, cross-border monitoring and control systems, and policy and legal reforms. There are plans for Germany to take on a VPA mentorship for Honduras and/or Nicaragua in the medium term. Possible points of intervention for bilateral projects include, in particular, the setting up of independent monitoring systems that involve all key actors (central and local governments, civil society - including indigenous groups - and the private sector) and capacity-building for communities, giving them the skills they need to design and implement without external assistance local development strategies that take account of the sustainable use of forest resources. In the medium term, FLEGT should be incorporated into Central American trade policies. This would allow trade-related aspects of FLEGT to be discussed in suitable forums, thereby helping forest and environment authorities implement FLEGT measures. Trade-related entry points can be taken from the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and from negotiations for a future Association Agreement with the EU to be launched in mid Puembo II is an initiative undertaken by ACTO, CCAD and FAO to promote dialogue on forest policy in Latin America. It is being supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) ( ). 11

12 6.4 Southeast Asia Illegal logging is the main problem as regards the protection of natural resources in this region and is keenly debated in national and regional politics. The first ministerial conference on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance took place in Bali in September 2001 (East-Asia FLEG). The ministerial declaration agreed at the conference was taken as the basis for bilateral memoranda of understanding. A second ministerial conference hosted by the Philippines is to take place in The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will play a key role in this context. Given the close interlinkage of regional and global trade, the regional level is the most important point of intervention for German development cooperation in Southeast Asia. The ASEAN Secretariat is currently receiving advisory services on shaping regional framework conditions for the forest sector. Key tasks for development cooperation include the following: > Within the context of FLEG, measures are to focus on the key field of action of harmonising trade and customs regulations. > Development cooperation is helping to promote the pan-asean certification initiative and draw up ASEAN-wide standards to curb illegality. sector is to be harnessed in cooperation with the Netherlands, to help draw up and implement a VPA. A regional VPA between the EU and ASEAN could become feasible as soon as ASEAN has agreed on a joint definition of legally produced timber. Concluding such an agreement would signal significant progress in the fight against illegal logging and in the implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan. The details of the future German engagement for FLEG in the region will depend on the new perspectives that emerge from the second ministerial conference on FLEG in Southeast Asia. Politically speaking, the involvement of China is a must. Formal cooperation measures to promote a supraregional customs protocol could be undertaken if concrete results were to be achieved, particularly linkages to existing transnational structures such as ASEAN. Initial steps in this direction were taken by supporting the East-Asia Customs and Law Enforcement Workshop, which took place in November 2005 in the Philippines, and in which China participated. GTZ and the Department for International Development (DFID) are supporting a project run by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, to set up a regional cooperation framework to monitor the timber trade. Progress made by the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) is also being monitored. > The regional advisory approach is supplemented by the incorporation of FLEGT issues into forest-policy advisory services in Indonesia, where special attention is also being paid to the promotion of FSC certification and strengthening civil society, and in Viet Nam, where initial activities are to be launched with the timber-processing industry. > Long-standing experience from bilateral cooperation with Malaysia in the forest 6.5 China, Russia, ENA-FLEG region The first Europe and North-Asia FLEG (ENA-FLEG) ministerial conference took place in November China also participated in the conference as a key trade partner, and acknowledged its responsibility as a timber importer. A key outcome of the conference was an agreement to draw up national action plans whose implementation will be discussed at the follow-on conference in

13 China is one of the main actors in this region. Not only is it the world s leading importer of timber and semi-finished timber products,it is also the world s top exporter of timber goods. Given the enormous spin-off effects these trade volumes have on most of the main timber producing regions (in particular Russia, Southeast Asia and Central Africa), cooperation with China is a precondition for the success of FLEGT in the region, and is thus of immense strategic significance. Getting China involved in the promotion of trade in legally harvested timber and legally produced timber products therefore constitutes a key challenge. From the German point of view, it would be desirable for cooperation with China in the framework of FLEGT to embrace the following areas: > Support for drawing up and implementing a national FLEGT Action Plan > Assistance in bringing China s national certification system into line with international systems > Support for revising public procurement procedures > Promotion of sustainable forest management, to boost domestic productivity > Support to allow China to host a FLEGT conference. Building on the results of the ENA-FLEG ministerial conference, German development cooperation should continue to declare its willingness to support FLEGT processes in China. Advisory measures on FLEGT could provide a valuable impetus for implementing a policy that has the backing of the Chinese government. The precondition for realising FLEGT measures at the national level is that the dialogue with China be pursued within various international organisations, and that crucial political bodies be recruited as active partners in the regional and international FLEGT process. In the past, only the Chinese forest authorities have dealt with issues related to FLEGT. It would be desirable to launch a political dialogue on this topic with the trade and finance ministries. In this context, the possibility of including trade and customs cooperation in the priority area of sustainable business should be explored, if possible with the ministry of trade as the lead executing agency. If these institutions can be successfully involved, the following measures could also be pursued: > Involvement of China in ASEAN efforts to harmonise provisions on customs legislation and the timber trade, the aim being to conclude a regional customs agreement > Provision of advisory services on dealing with trade-related legislative instruments that would facilitate control of illegally produced timber imports and promote the creation of a legality assurance (license) system > Involvement of China in G8 activities to combat illegal logging > Involvement of China in the Southeast Asian FLEG process and the AFP > Support for revising public procurement provisions and the incorporation of standards for procuring timber (in the short term to ensure that products have been legally produced and in the medium term to ensure that they come from sustainably managed forestry ventures), to lend support to trade in legally produced timber. 13

14 7. Shaping European and international policy One long-term objective is to stop trade in illegally logged timber products within the framework of a multilateral agreement. Currently, a general worldwide trade ban on illegally harvested timber products appears unfeasible, however. Against this background, NGOs in particular are calling on the G8 states and on China to revise public procurement legislation. The WWF estimates that public procurement procedures in the G8 states and in China account for 18 per cent of total timber imports. The ITTA, drawn up in January 2006, is the first international agreement to deal explicitly with combating illegal logging and promoting trade in legally harvested timber. It places a commitment on Germany as a consumer and as a partner of countries producing tropical timber over and above the EU FLEGT Action Plan. The German government has incorporated measures to combat illegal logging into all levels of its agenda. In addition to actively supporting relevant international political processes, for example, to implement the EU FLEGT Action Plan, it has sent out a clear signal that it rejects over-exploitation and illegal logging with its new procurement regulations for timber products (which must be certified as coming from a sustainably managed forest): Through the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) it is also engaged in a dialogue with the German timber trade in an effort to persuade the latter to agree to voluntary commitments to purchase timber from forest enterprises certified as being sustainably managed and operated in line with legal requirements and social imperatives. There are also plans: > To refine legality assurance systems (LASs) in order to verify the origin of timber and support customs authorities (BMELV) > Implement money laundering regulations for crimes related to illegal logging and the trade in illegally logged timber (BMEVL and the Federal Ministry of Justice, BMJ) The success or failure of FLEGT will depend on defining legality. Until now the EU only outlines minimum requirements as to which partnercountry legislation is to be enforced. This policy accommodates partner countries, but also accepts that the legality of each VPA is individually verified by a separate system. As the number of VPA countries rises, this system will become too time-consuming and expensive and will reduce the effectiveness of VPA as an instrument. For this reason, Germany is calling for the definitions of legality to be harmonised increasingly in the long term, allowing standardised verification procedures to be used, and ensuring that FLEGT measures will contribute to sustainable forest management and development. The EU s regulation on FLEGT in its current form provides no provision for taking action against indirect imports. This means that it is still possible for illegally logged timber to be exported to other markets and imported from there into the EU. There is also a danger that illegally-harvested timber products exported by third-party countries are imported into the EU having been laundered in partner countries. 14

15 Germany is therefore committed to exploring, together with partner countries, which additional steps could be taken to stop indirect imports diluting the effectiveness of VPAs. Over and above this, Germany will continue to push for the EU to explore additional tradepolicy measures to restrict the import of illegal timber products in line with the FLEGT Action Plan. Germany also welcomes the fact that illegal logging remains on the agenda of the G8. German development cooperation is helping its partner countries and regions shape ongoing and planned regional FLEG processes. The main focus lies on promoting specific, realistic, and fairly negotiated action plans that adequately involve civil society and the private sector, on incorporating regional processes and structures as appropriate, and on integrating follow-up processes at an early stage. Finally, to ensure that FLEGT measures genuinely help achieve sustainable forest management and development, Germany is calling for these measures to be closely integrated in overarching development processes, within the framework of UNFF and other relevant forums. 15

16 Annex I: List of Abbreviations ACTO Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization AFLEG Africa Forest Law Enforcement and Governance AFP Asia Forest Partnership ALFA Aplicación de la Ley Forestal en la Amazonía = Application of forest legislation in the Amazon region ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations BMELV German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection BMJ German Federal Ministry of Justice BMWi German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology BMZ German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development CAC Consejo Agropecuario Centroamericano = Central American council for agriculture CAFTA Central America Free Trade Agreement CBD Convention on Biological Diversity CBFP Congo Basin Forest Partnership CCAD Comisión Centroamericana de Ambiente y Desarrollo = Central American commission for the environment and development CIM Centrum für Internationale Migration und Entwicklung CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species COMIFAC Commission des Forêts d Afrique Centrale = Central African forest commission DFID Department for International Development at the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office DGIS Directorate General for International Cooperation at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs EAFLEG East Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance ENAFLEG Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance EU European Union FAO Food and Agriculture Organization FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade FSC Forest Stewardship Council G8 Group of seven leading industrialised nations (USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan) and Russia GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit InWEnt Capacity Building International, Germany ITTA International Tropical Timber Agreement ITTO International Tropical Timber Organization IUCN World Conservation Union MDG Millennium Development Goal NGO Non-governmental organisation PPP Public Private Partnership TFD The Forests Dialogue TRAFFIC The wildlife trade monitoring network a joint programme of WWF and IUCN UN United Nations UNFF United Nations Forum on Forests VPA Voluntary Partnership Agreement WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development WWF World Wide Fund For Nature 16

17 II: Definition of Legally Produced Timber EU FLEGT Briefing Note No. 2 The long-term aim of the FLEGT Action Plan is sustainable forest management. Definitions of legally-produced timber should therefore incorporate laws that address the: > three pillars of sustainability i.e., those aimed at economic, environmental and social objectives. These are likely to include: Granting of and compliance with rights to harvest timber within legallygazetted boundaries; Compliance with requirements regarding forest management, including compliance with relevant environmental, labour and community welfare legislation; Compliance with requirements concerning taxes, import and export duties, royalties and fees directly related to timber harvesting and timber trade; Respect for tenure or use rights to land and resources that may be affected by timber harvest rights, where such rights exist; Compliance with requirements for trade and export procedures. 17

18 III: Literature > Asia Forest Network, 2005: Approaches to Controlling Illegal Forest Activities: Considerations from Southeast Asia > BMZ, 2002: Forests and Sustainable Development, sector strategy > BMZ, 2004: Anchor Countries Partner for Global Development, position paper > CBD, 2002: Expanded work programme on Forest Biological Diversity (FBD) > CIFOR, 2006: Justice in the Forest, Rural Livelihoods and Forest Law Enforcement > EU FLEGT Action Plan, and FLEGT Briefing Notes numbers 1 to 9 > FAO, 2005: Best Practices for improving law compliance in the forest sector. FAO Forestry Paper 145, ISBN > Forest Trends, 2006: China and the Global Market for Forest Products; Transforming Trade to Benefit Forests and Livelihoods, ISBN > Greenpeace International, 2005: Trading away our last ancient forests: The threats to forests from trade liberalization under the WTO > Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002 > ITTO: Biennial Work Programme for the Years > OECD-DAC, 2005: Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, Ownership, Harmonisation, Alignment, Results and Mutual Accountability > OECD, January 2007: The economics of illegal logging and associated trade; Roundtable Meeting: How to strengthen international efforts to combat illegal logging? > World Bank, 2002: Sustaining Forests, A Development Strategy, ISBN > World Bank, 2006: Strengthening Forest Law Enforcement and Governance. > WWF International, 2002: The timber footprint of the G8 and China; making the case for green procurement by government > WWF International, 2005: Failing the Forests, Europe s illegal timber trade IV: Ministerial Processes > East Asia FLEG, Bali Declaration, 2001 > AFLEG, Yaoundé Declaration, 2003 > ENA-FLEG, St. Petersburg Declaration, 2005 V: Websites > Asia Forest Partnership: > Asia Forest Network: > ASEAN: > Chatham House (United Kingdom) Press releases, conference reports, studies > Congo Basin Forest Partnership: > EU: Forestry_intro_en.cfm > FERN: > NGO: > Verification systems for legality in the forest sector: > World Bank: Information on regional FLEG processes, amongst other things 18

19 Published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development Bonn Office Postfach Bonn Germany Phone + 49 (0) Fax + 49 (0) Berlin Office Stresemannstrasse Berlin Germany Phone +49 (0) Fax +49 (0) poststelle@bmz.bund.de Editor-in-chief Evy von Pfeil Final editing Maria Backhouse, Matthias Reiche Official responsible Matthias Reiche Design and layout F R E U D E! design, Rendel Freude Photo credits Title page: Matthias Reiche As at December 2007