Uptake of FLEGT-licensed timber

Source:
ITTO/Fordaq
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An interview with three leading importers reported in the latest EU FLEGT Independent Market Monitor (IMM) Newsletter shows that market signals are still mixed on the question of recognition and uptake of FLEGT-licensed timber from Indonesia.

Representatives of the three companies, FEPCO of Belgium, James Latham of the UK, and Dekker Hout of the Netherlands were first questioned on the market potential of the licensing initiative two years ago and were quizzed again to see how their opinions had evolved since.

All three still commended the initiative as a mechanism to encourage responsible trade and improve the image of tropical wood, but, they said, FLEGT licensing was still not specified by customers and market preference was still for FSC or PEFC certification.

In their view, a FLEGT licence was not a ‘badge that can command a premium’ and ‘did not trump usual timber purchasing considerations of price, quality and availability’.

Provided standards were not compromised, two of the company spokes people said they would like to see certain countries in an EU FLEGT VPA fast-tracked through the process so that more and a wider selection of FLEGT licensed products became available. This, they commented, could give FLEGT licensing more market traction.

They also urged more communication on FLEGT’s wider social, economic and environmental impacts in producer countries and recommended more be done to encourage inclusion of FLEGT licensing in EU government procurement criteria.

Commenting on the temperate hardwood market, importers and distributors said that the ‘heat’ has come out of the European oak business and price had stabilised. Several thought this was partly the result of Italian investment in further processing facilities in Croatia, which is maintaining a ban on transit and export of untreated oak, ostensibly as a phytosanitary measure.

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