The European Parliament is currently discussing a draft regulation on products from deforestation-free supply chains for the internal market. The aim of the proposal is to halt global deforestation by banning the import of products resulting from the conversion of natural or renaturalised forests for the cultivation of, for example, soya or palm oil. The list of potentially eligible products includes wood and the requirement to integrate the rules of the EU Trade in Timber Regulation (EUTR) into the new regulation with a delay of three years. While the ETTF welcomes the overall initiative on forest protection, it rejects the reference to wood as a raw material and to the EUTR.

In a first opinion addressed to Members of the European Parliament, the ETTF warns against creating further bureaucratic hurdles that could result from double regulation. “Professional due diligence systems have been in place for years for the import of timber and timber products, which are also subject to external monitoring by government authorities,” says Thomas Goebel, ETTF General Secretary. “We will call on the Commission to start by doing its homework on the implementation of the EUTR in all Member States at a level that will finally put an end to the ongoing market distortions”.

The ETTF is very concerned that the new initiative to seal off the internal market from the international timber trade could lead to products such as soya or palm oil from deforested areas being sheared in the same way as the sustainable raw material wood. The Association expects a clear demarcation here, but this is not feasible if the rules on wood imports are integrated into the new proposal.

The actual procedure for a regulation is expected to take place in the first half of 2021. This is the responsibility of the EU Commission, but the ETTF wants to contribute its position to the Brussels procedure very early on. The ETTF’s position is supported by the European wood industry association CEI-Bois, of which the ETTF has been a member for a year.