Proposed changes to EU deforestation law will boost illegal Russia timber trade, NGO warns
A majority of EU countries are pushing for changes to the EU deforestation law that could likely boost illegal timber imports from sanctioned Russia and Belarus, according to NGO Earthsight, which claims states pushing for the changes are benefiting from the illegal timber trade.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/07/29/proposed-changes-to-eu-deforestation-law-will-boost-illegal-russia-timber-trade-ngo-warns
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
00:00A majority of EU countries are proposing changes to simplify the EU's deforestation law,
00:08a legislation approved in 2023 which aims at reducing the EU's impact on global deforestation.
00:16But the NGO Earthside has warned that these changes could facilitate illegal exports of timber from Russia and Belarus.
00:24In an interview with EroNews, Tara Ganesh, a timber expert at Earthside, said that the simplification measures would create more opportunities for fraud.
00:35Lighter rules could be applied to certain third countries, potentially resulting in fewer inspections and no mandatory geolocalization requirements.
00:44Well, that's where the EU deforestation regulation would really close the circle in terms of the existing EU legislation
00:53and make it a requirement across the board for companies to not just know where their wood is coming from,
01:00because the EUTR to some extent already requires that, but to show geolocation coordinates, for example,
01:05for where the wood in their products, you know, comes from, which is a very, very powerful tool
01:11because, you know, that can be used to debunk fake harvest claims, fake origin claims.
01:17The experts said that eight of the countries pushing for these amendments are, incidentally, benefiting significantly from the illegal timber trade.
01:27According to the NGO, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia
01:35account for 67% of the revenue generated from the fraudulent activity since the sanction came into force.
01:42Incidentally, a lot of the member states that were calling for the no risk proposal were also some of the member states
01:48that were getting some of the highest volumes of, you know, conflict plywood.
01:52Russian and Belarusian timber has been under EU sanctions since July 2022, following the start of the war in Ukraine in February that year.
Be the first to comment