By Emily Smith - 5th April 2004
Italy and Portugal are guilty of supporting a €12.5 billion trade in illegal logging, according to a report out on Tuesday.
The report from green group WWF rates 12 EU countries on their efforts to combat large scale global sales of illegal timber
The UK topped the list with 12 out of a possible 18 points – ahead of Denmark in second place with nine.
Italy and Portugal trail at the bottom, with five points each.
But the report also highlights the fact that straightening out Europe’s timber trade - which the World Bank estimates is worth €12.5 billion ($15 billion) a year - would be far from easy.
The European Commission is currently drafting a voluntary licensing scheme, under which member states could arrange deals with third countries to guarantee the legality of imported wood.
But Finland remains firmly opposed even to such voluntary arrangements: half of all EU timber imports from Russia go to Finland.
WWF would also like to see the import of illegal wood outlawed in the EU, but there are fears – notably from Germany and Austria – that this could run into difficulties with the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Illegally sourced timber is cheaper than that produced by legitimate means – meaning that a switch from one to the other could mean governments stepping in to support logging industries.
And any country suddenly bereft of a large percentage of its timber trade with the EU might lodge a complaint with the WTO.
Difficulties are likely to increase with the accession of Eastern European countries on May 1 this year.
Logging controls in Eastern Europe are not nearly as strict as those in the current member states, with for example half of timber production in Estonia believed to be illegal.
Guidelines for targeting illegal logging were issued by Brussels in May 2003.
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