What is FLEGT

 

FLEGT stands for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade – the European Union’s response to illegal logging and the trade in associated timber products.

Origins of FLEGT

The issue of illegal logging has been attracting international attention since the late 1990s. It featured as one of five components of the 1998-2002 G8 Action Programme on Forests. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002, the European Commission set out a strong commitment to combat illegal logging and the associated trade in illegally harvested timber. To build on this commitment, the FLEGT Action Plan was presented by the Commission in May 2003, and the Action Plan was adopted by the European Council in October of the same year.

EU FLEGT Action Plan

The Action Plan sets out a range of measures that aim to combat the problem of illegal logging. These include:

• support for improved governance and capacity building in timber-producing countries;
• development of Voluntary Partnership Agreements with timber-producing countries to prevent illegally produced timber from entering the EU market;
• efforts to reduce the EU’s consumption of illegally harvested timber and discourage investments by EU institutions that may encourage illegal logging. 

Timber and timber products covered by FLEGT

FLEGT covers a broad range of timber products including solid wood products, flooring, plywood, pulp and paper, wooden furniture, wooden picture frames, and nearly all products made out of wood. This includes timber and product timbers from commercial forest plantations such as rubber wood, products made from sawdust and wood waste, whether compressed into any form. Not included are recycled products, as well as printed papers such as books, magazines and newspapers

FLEGT in Thailand

Starting in 2010, Thailand expressed interest in joining the FLEGT VPA negotiation. During the pre-negotiation phase from 2010-2013, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment was assigned to oversee the negotiation with the Royal Forest Department as the main implementing agency and the focal point of the process, followed by the founding of the National FLEGT Negotiation Committee with the Permanent-Secretary heading the committee. After rounds of discussions and reviewing of the pros and cons of the negotiation as well as stakeholder consultations, Thailand and EU formally entered the negotiation on 11 September 2013, in the same year, the Royal Forest Department founded the Thai-EU FLEGT Secretariat Office to function as the main secretary and coordinator of the FLEGT VPA process.