Written answers

Thursday, 27 October 2005

Department of Agriculture and Food

Timber Imports

5:00 pm

Photo of John GormleyJohn Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 233: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food the quantities of tropical timber imported by the State annually; the action she will take to limit these imports in view of the level of damage to the environment incurred by the felling of these trees in the tropical belt with only approximately 1% of the felled areas being replanted; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31209/05]

Photo of Mary CoughlanMary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Current imports of tropical hardwoods to Ireland are in the region of 50,000 cu. m. of sawn-wood per annum, as compared with a home-production of over 1 million cu. m. of sawn-wood per annum. It constitutes a relatively small proportion, therefore, of our overall production.

Most of the imported tropical hardwoods are used in applications where there is no readily available alternative and where natural durability is required. However, I am very conscious of the need to ensure that this timber is sourced from sustainably managed forests and I share the concerns of the Deputy in this regard. I am very pleased to say that Ireland has played a leading role in the negotiation of a new EU regulation designed to control imports of timber from third countries and to foster the principles of sustainable forest management in those countries. This regulation, which provides for forest law enforcement, governance and trade, FLEGT, was agreed at the Agriculture Council of Ministers of 24 to 25 October 2005, which I attended. The FLEGT regulation will introduce a licensing scheme built around voluntary partnership agreements between the EU and wood producing countries. The partnership agreements will be applicable in all EU member states.

The voluntary partnerships aim to support and promote governance reform in countries affected by illegal logging and the regulation will set up a legally binding licensing scheme with partner countries to ensure that only legal timber from these countries is imported into the EU. These measures are based on innovative approaches linking efforts to strengthen governance in developing countries with the incentives for good practice offered by the EU market.

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