|
Report
from
Europe
Hardwood markets face challenges from EUTR and
weak economy
The Timber Trades Journal (TTJ) has published a ¡°Special
Focus¡± on the UK and wider European market for tropical
hardwoods. The Editorial highlights challenges for the
tropical wood industry in the region, noting underlying
weakness of the European economy and commenting that
hardwood is ¡°generally the last timber to benefit from an
upturn¡±.
It notes also that ¡°by general consensus, the tropical sector
has also faced the biggest challenge coming to terms with
the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). The often complex
supply chains and lower levels of forestry governance in
tropical countries clearly make satisfying EUTR due
diligence risk assessment tougher.¡±
The TTJ explains that EUTR-related environmental
campaigns and media attention in Europe have so far
focused heavily on tropical wood, notably the recent BBC
Panorama programme which targeted okoume log imports
into France, and an on-going investigation of German
imports of wenge logs from the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
In addition to direct action by the likes of Greenpeace, TTJ
reports that due diligence actions by timber importers is
leading some to avoid tropical sources to minimise the risk
of potential future action.
The UK Timber Trade Federation (TTF) has stressed that
the trade‟s primary goal is to work with tropical suppliers
to raise legality levels and avoid their exclusion from the
EU. However, TTF surveys of members indicate that some
tropical suppliers are already being ¡°weeded out¡±.
Comments from some of the large European buyers and
distributors interviewed for the TTJ suggest that this
¡°weeding out¡± process is advancing rapidly.
Representatives of large retailers and builders merchants,
including John Lewis, IKEA, Marks and Spencers, and
Travis Perkins, all emphasised their firm commitment to
third party certification, preferably FSC, of tropical wood.
Comments by Jez Cutler, Environment Manager of Travis
Perkins, are typical: ¡°our default position for tropical
wood and wood products is FSC or PEFC certified. We
understand these schemes are invested in them¡±.
Some European buyers ¡°demand almost the
impossible¡±
This ¡°default position¡± is challenged in the same issue of
TTJ by Sheam Satkuru-Granzella of the Malaysian Timber
Council (MTC).
Satkuru-Granzella observes that to date the EU FLEGT
VPA process has been explicitly targeted at tropical
countries and suggests: ¡°this has inadvertently created the
perception that the EUTR is implicitly targeted principally
towards tropical countries which are not yet ready to
supply FLEGT-Licensed timber.
That also helps create the impression that those countries
run a higher risk of illegality, an unfounded notion that has
caused some purchasers in the EU to demand almost the
impossible from tropical timber supplying countries, in
terms of depth and detail of chain of custody and other
information.¡±
Satkura-Granzella suggests that while those countries that
have engaged in VPA negotiations are redoubling their
efforts to shake off this market misconception and to meet
the highest standards of legality assurance ¡°some large
competing suppliers to the EU, which have not joined the
VPA process, go virtually unregulated¡±.
As far as Malaysia is concerned, ¡°we will continue to raise
awareness of the Malaysian Timber Legality Assurance
System, or MYTLAS, which has been operational now for
six months¡±, said Satkuru-Granzella.
EU importers see opportunities for tropical hardwood
However, not all European importers interviewed by TTJ
focused only on forest certification and the perceived
¡°risks¡± of dealing in tropical hardwood.
The TTJ editorial concludes that ¡°as our survey of leading
timber providers and buyers shows, they still want to sell
and use tropical hardwood¡±.
Several importers interviewed by TTJ expressed positive
views about long-term opportunities for tropical wood in
the European market. There was particular emphasis on
opportunities for renewed marketing of lesser-known
species of tropical wood and tropical plantation-grown
timbers in the wake of EUTR.
As noted by TTJ, ¡°the dynamics of the tropical timber
sector are changing. As emerging markets develop an
appetite for the material, availability of established species
is tightening.
In conjunction, demand is rising for timber that is legally
and environmentally verified. As a result, suppliers say
their customers will have to be persuaded to accept less
familiar varieties ¨C and many are already devoting
increasing efforts to the persuasion process.¡±
TTJ provides details of the lesser known species and
marketing strategies of a range of European companies
now very actively engaged in efforts to boost demand for
alternative tropical hardwoods.
Products mentioned include: kapur decking; tiama as a
utility redwood alternative to sapele; plantation-grown
Asian acacia to provide a stable light-weight option for
joinery applications; movingui as a substitute for iroko;
basrolocus from Suriname and guariuba from Brazil, both
for cladding; bilinga from the Congo Republic for
decking; nemesu for cladding; and Brazilian angelim and
cupiuba and West African opepe and tali, variously
targeted at cladding, decking and marine applications.
TTJ also makes reference to the government-backed
Initiative for Sustainable Trade (IDH) in the Netherlands,
a consortium of FSC and 6 Dutch importers which has
selected 10 to 15 lesser known tropical timber species
from a long-list of 100 provided by partner companies.
The IDH list includes South American, Asian, and African
species which are now undergoing performance testing.
The intention is that developing demand for these species
will help improve returns on certified forest operations in
the tropics.
The vast majority of these new products are being offered
FSC or PEFC certified to overcome prejudices against
tropical hardwoods. Importers and agents interviewed
acknowledge that, despite certification, developing
demand for these alternatives remains challenging.
This is due to the conservatism of manufacturers and
specifiers, many of which prefer to stick to old favourites
like sapele, iroko and meranti, an attitude which sits
uncomfortably with their demand for green certification.
Nevertheless, there is optimism that these various
obstacles can be overcome. Many of those interviewed by
TTJ stressed the need for marketing to place less emphasis
on the species name and more on technical performance in
specific applications.
As one importer notes, it‟s important to encourage the
building trade to ¡°focus on performance and suitability,
leaving timber suppliers to suggest the best species
available to make the most of what the forest has to offer.¡±
Overall, the TTJ feature suggests that the days of large
volumes of relatively low value tropical hardwood being
sold as a commodity for use in utility joinery applications
in Europe are well and truly over. But that‟s not to say
there isn‟t a significant long-term role for tropical
hardwoods in the European market.
In the words of Chris Cox of UK hardwood importer
Timbmet, the tropical timber market in Europe ¡°will be a
smaller market, but with more high value and with an
increased focus on certified and engineered products to
squeeze more value out of the legally available resource.¡±
Launch of Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition
The EU Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC)
will launch on 6 November 2013 in Amsterdam. STTC is
being convened by the Dutch Ministry of Economic
Affairs and IDH, the Dutch sustainable trade initiative.
Industry partners will include the European Timber Trade
Federation and the Association Technique Internationale
des Bois Tropicaux (ATIBT). FSC and PEFC are also
partners. The Project Director is Hans Stout, former CEO
of Precious Woods.
The EU STTC has a set a target for the sustainable
management of up to 10 million hectares of tropical forest
by 2015. The STTC will contribute to this aim by making
the business case for certification more attractive for
concession holders.
According to STTC, the aim is ¡°to accelerate demand for
certified or licensed timber from sustainably managed
tropical forests to the tipping point of 30% and to put a
halt to declining use of tropical timber in front running
countries in the EU, through creating momentum between
legality and sustainability efforts¡±.
According to STTC‟s advance publicity for the launch
event: ¡°despite large-scale efforts, such as 20 years of
certification, 10 years of FLEGT and new legislations on
illegal timber trade, deforestation is still happening at an
alarming rate.
Over the past 20 years only 6% of tropical forests are
certified and 290 million hectares of forests have been
destroyed and converted to non-forest uses. Of the
certified forests over 90% is in the northern hemisphere.
Tropical timber is a high risk product and there is an
urgent need for action. The EU market can influence forest
management in the tropics if private, public and civil
society players join forces¡±.
Private sector companies, local authorities and national
governments are eligible to join STTC. Each participant
defines an individual commitment and an action plan.
Members of the STTC will benefit from co-funded
technical support services, communication and PR, and a
platform for aligning efforts.
The launch event will bring together the companies, trade
organizations, NGO‟s, and national and local government
representatives from across Europe participating in the
coalition. The event will feature speakers from the timber
world and trade and general press are encouraged to
attend.
For more information about STTC contact Marieke
Abcouwer, IDH Program Manager Tropical Timber, at
abcouwer@idhsustainabletrade.com. For more
information about the launch event, email
events@eusttc.com.
Study confirms EU wood consumption has negligible
impact on deforestation
The European Commission has just released a report
entitled "Comprehensive analysis of the impact of EU
consumption on deforestation". The implications of the
report for EU policy in relation to tropical forests and the
wider forest products sector could be profound.
Underlying the report seems to be a realisation that,
despite years of political dialogue and funding of
programs targeting deforestation, the problem remains
profound.
The report takes a good hard look at just how much, and in
what ways, European consumption of resources is
contributing to deforestation. By doing so, it aims to
ensure development of policy and legislative measures that
might actually make a difference.
The report is a serious piece of work, prepared with the
support of the European Environment Council, the
European Parliament, and the European Economic and
Social Committee (although the EC is careful to point out
that it is an independent study not necessarily representing
their views).
The report is particularly significant because it considers,
in exhaustive detail, the impact on deforestation of EU
21 ITTO TTM Report 17:18 16- 30 September 2013
consumption of all products and services, not just those
derived directly from forest management. It therefore
captures, and puts into context, the large role of
commercial cash crops in driving deforestation.
The report uses the concept of ¡°embodied deforestation¡±
to link deforestation to consumption. Essentially it
quantifies the area of deforestation associated with the
production of any good, commodity or service.
The report combines a detailed review of data on the scale
and location of deforestation with an analysis of the
various drivers of deforestation around the world. It then
determines the volume and direction of trade flows of all
commodities linked to the deforestation process.
For all relevant traded commodities, the report considers
both the direct (e.g. conversion of forest into agricultural
land) and indirect impacts (e.g. pollution from mining
activities leading to forest degradation and later forest
conversion).
Working through the numbers, the report ends up
attributing 200,000 hectares of total global deforestation of
232 million hectares between 1990 and 2008 to the EU's
imports of wood products.
This compares to 8.7 million hectares attributed to EU
imports of agricultural cash crops and livestock products.
The report also shows that worldwide only 33% of
deforestation embodied in crops and only 8% of
deforestation embodied in livestock products enters
international markets.
The report confirms forcibly something that many people
in the wood industry have long suspected, that policy
measures in consuming countries targeting only the wood
trade - whatever their merits in improving environmental
and social performance in other areas - can play little or
no role to prevent or slow deforestation.
Measures targeting consumption of agricultural
commodities, which have long been neglected, would be
more effective. But even here the value of trade-based
measures in isolation is constrained by the fact that a
majority of product remains within the country of origin.
At the very least, the report might discourage European
policy makers and environmentalists from presenting
EUTR, forest certification and legality verification as a
necessary and effective response to deforestation.
Instead, they might be encouraged to present such
mechanisms for what they are, as a demonstration of
innovation and leadership by the wood industry with
useful lessons that urgently need to be applied to other
industrial sectors.
The report "The impact of EU consumption on
deforestation" funded by the European Commission is at:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/1.%20Report
%20analysis%20of%20impact.pdf
¡¡
| 
