Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to prevent import of (a) timber products illegally logged in the Congo Basin and (b) products produced in countries outside the Congo Basin using timber illegally logged within that country.

HM Government has a long and proud history of supporting action to combat deforestation and promote the sustainable management of the world’s forests.

The United Kingdom was instrumental in the EU adopting the 2003 Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, which aims to improve forest governance, reduce illegal logging and encourage trade in legally sourced timber. The FLEGT Action Plan is manifest in the UK through two sets of regulations, the UK Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Regulations, and the UK Timber Regulations.

Timber being imported from the Congo Basin into the United Kingdom is subject to UK Timber Regulations. These prohibit the placing of illegally harvested timber and timber products on the UK market and requires operators, those first placing such products on the market, to exercise due diligence. This includes gathering information on timber, including its species, quantity, supplier, country of harvest and compliance with applicable legislation. Operators must then assess the risk of timber being illegal and mitigate any identified risk by taking steps to verify legality.

Importers are also obliged to consider all species in composites separately. This includes species from the Congo Basin which are then processed into timber products in a third country and exported to the UK. Those who trade in timber and timber products after they have been placed on the market are required to keep records of who they buy timber products from and any traders they sell them to. This enables timber and timber products to be traced along the supply chain.

The Office for Product Safety and Standards is appointed by Defra to enforce the regulations in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, checking that appropriate records are maintained by traders and operators and ensuring that the due diligence systems of operators are fit for purpose.