COMBATTING WASTE CRIME

As envisaged in the EU FLEGT Action Plan from 2003, the EU adopted new legislation in 2010 called the EU Timber Regulation (Regulation (EU) No 995/2010). By July 2015, 24 of the 28 EU Member States had implemented the Regulation. The EC has issued pre-infringement notices against the remaining four countries (Greece, Hungary, Romania and Spain).

Recently, the Timber Regulation (EUTR) was repealed by the Regulation on deforestation-free products (Regulation (EU) No 2023/1115) – the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). As of 30 December 2024, the key articles of the EUDR will apply, leaving a short adaptation and preparation period. Micro and small enterprises will enjoy a longer adaptation period, as well as other specific provisions. Nevertheless, until then, the EUTR is still applicable and therefore worth more detailed introduction.

The EUTR aims to counter illegal logging and associated trade in timber and timber products in the Member States of the European Union, and ultimately contribute to sustainable management of forests and reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation beyond EU borders.

The EUTR covers a range of timber products such as solid wood products, flooring, plywood, pulp and paper that are listed the EUTR's Annex. The EUTR does not cover recycled products, as well as printed papers such as books, magazines and newspapers. The product scope can, however, be amended. The EUTR applies to both imported and domestically produced timber and timber products. Timber and timber products covered by valid FLEGT or CITES licences automatically meet the requirements of the EUTR.

The EUTR establishes obligations on 'operators' who place timber and timber products on the market and on 'traders' who buy or sell timber or timber products already on the internal market. The regulation requires timber importers and traders in the EU to trade only in legal timber and adopt due diligence procedures to ensure their supply chains are legal. It requires EU Member States to have legislation, procedures and penalties in place to enforce the regulation. A ‘competent authority’ must be designated responsible for the application of the EUTR (Article 7), lay down “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” penalties applicable to infringements of the EUTR, and take all measures necessary to guarantee that penalties are enforced (Article 19).

The EUTR prohibits the placing onto the EU market of illegally harvested timber and timber products derived from such timber. It requires operators who place timber or timber products on the market for the first time to exercise due diligence to make sure that timber and timber products are legal. To facilitate the traceability of timber and timber products, the EUTR also requires traders who buy or sell timber products on the EU market to keep records of their suppliers and customers. The due diligence system shall contain the following three elements:

• Information: Operators shall provide the following information: a description of the timber or timber products placed on the market (including trade name and type of product, common name of tree species and, if applicable, their scientific name), country of harvest, quantity, details of the supplier and information on compliance with applicable legislation.
• Risk assessment: Operators should analyse and evaluate the risk of illegally harvested timber or timber products placed on the market, based on the information identified above and taking into account relevant risk assessment criteria set out in the EUTR, including but not limited to, assurance of compliance with applicable legislation, prevalence of illegal harvesting of specific tree species, prevalence of illegal harvesting or practices in the sourcing country, complexity of the supply chain.
• Risk mitigation: When the assessment has demonstrated that there is a risk of illegally harvested timber or timber products derived from such timber, operators shall mitigate such risk by requiring additional information and/or verification by a third party.

Operators can set up due diligence systems on an individual basis or with the assistance of monitoring organisations (Article 8). Monitoring organisations are legal entities recognised by the European Commission as fulfilling the EUTR requirements, competent to assist operators in meeting the EUTR due diligence obligations.

Under the EUDR, any operator or trader who places commodities like soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa, coffee, or rubber commodities on the EU market, or exports from it, must be able to prove that the products do not originate from recently deforested land or have contributed to forest degradation. Relevant goods must also be covered by a due diligence statement and be produced in accordance with applicable local laws. The EUDR does not include ‘compound feed’ in the Annex I of relevant commodities or products, meaning the placement of compound feed on the EU market is excluded from the scope of the EUDR requirements. Compound feed containing relevant commodities and products, such as soy and palm oil products, is not subject to the EUDR, except certain traceability requirements linked to feed containing soy and/or palm products destined for cattle.

The new rules aim to

• avoid that the listed products Europeans buy, use and consume contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the EU and globally;
• reduce carbon emissions caused by EU consumption and production of the relevant commodities by at least 32 million metric tonnes a year;
• address all deforestation driven by agricultural expansion to produce the commodities in the scope of the regulation, as well as forest degradation.

Products produced inside the EU are subject to the same requirements as those produced outside the EU. The EUDR applies to products listed in Annex I, whether they are produced in the EU or imported. For instance, if an EU company produces chocolate (code 1806, which is included in Annex I), then it will be considered an operator subject to the obligations of the EUDR, even if the cocoa powder used in the chocolate has already been placed on the market and fulfilled the due diligence requirements. In contrast, if an EU company produces soap – which is not included in Annex I –, it will not be subject to the requirements of the Regulation, even if the soap contains palm oil.