Press release no. 127 from 07.07.10Federal Minister Aigner: global action to combat illegal logging to be intensified

Around 13 million hectares of forest worldwide are destroyed by illegal logging per year. This corresponds to more than the entire German forest area, which covers around 10.7 million hectares. Almost 20 per cent of the global CO2 emissions can be attributed to global deforestation.

In the lengthy negotiations on the new Regulation the Federal Government worked hard to achieve effective protection of forests. One particular challenge lay in preventing the new regime from at the same time placing an unnecessary strain on legal and sustainable forest management in Germany and in Europe. Seventy-five per cent of the timber on the internal market comes from the EU.

The new regime is also supposed to deliver benefits for timber that is certified or otherwise controlled. "I am particularly delighted that all these things have been achieved", said Federal Minister of Agriculture Ilse Aigner. The EU is thus sending "a clear signal to the producer countries outside the EU to work together with the EU in the fight against illegal logging". According to Aigner this part of global environmental crime destroys extremely valuable primeval forests every day, especially in the Tropics. At the same time the new Regulation would also benefit those who offer legal goods, since illegal logging ultimately also impairs the image of timber as an environmentally sound raw material.

The EU Regulation that is now passing through the legislative process obliges economic operators who place timber, whatever its origin, on the internal market for the first time to take a series of measures intended to minimize the risk of this timber coming from illegal logging. The final formal consent of the Council to the overall compromise is regarded as just a formality. However, extensive implementing rules must still be drawn up before the Regulation can finally enter into force.