The September 2022 issue of National Hardwood Magazine is full of fascinating features and news updates from the hardwood industry. This month's issue includes stories on PRS Guitars Limited Partnership, Thompson Appalachian Hardwoods, BID Group and much more.
AHEC REPORT NEW EU
AHEC REPORT NEW EU “ANTI-DEFORESTATION” LEGISLATION HAS THE POTENTIAL TO SEVERELY RESTRICT U.S. HARDWOOD EXPORTS TO THE EUROPEAN UNION AND BEYOND Proposed “geolocation” requirement would discriminate against small nonindustrial operators WE ARE GRAF BROTHERS The world’s largest manufacturer of rift & quarter sawn white oak products The new EU Anti Deforestation legislation, first presented as a draft in November of last year, is still passing through the EU law-making process, but this is happening more quickly than expected for such a complex, not to mention controversial law. In order to pass, the law must be agreed upon by consensus between both the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. On June 28, the EU Council of Ministers – which represents the governments of all 27 EU Member States – did in fact agree on the draft text. It now only needs to be agreed by the European Parliament (which is usually more inclined than the Council to implement far-reaching environmental measures). A vote may take place as early as September. In principle, this is just the sort of law that AHEC and the U.S. Hardwood sector would wish to support. It aims to remove products from deforested land from the EU market. Any form of deforestation is anathema to an industry such as ours that is built on the sustainable use of Hardwood forests and one which is most directly threatened by conversion of these same forests to other uses. The preamble to the legislation makes clear that the major driver of deforestation is not demand for wood products, but that “agricultural expansion drives 90 percent of global deforestation.” The law is, in theory, built on the concept of risk-based due diligence pioneered by AHEC in the Seneca Creek studies and which was the foundation of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). It extends this powerful concept to control trade beyond timber to include agricultural commodities most implicated in deforestation – beef, soy, palm oil, and coffee. The need to develop mechanisms to avoid discrimination against smaller producers and landowners is clearly stated in the preamble to the law. Unfortunately, in its current draft the law falls short of that lofty goal. One aspect of this law in particular would be a major obstacle for U.S. Hardwood product exports to the EU as well as for many small non-industrial operators across the globe: a requirement to provide “geolocation” data for the specific “plot(s) of land” from where all regulated material (including wood) contained in products placed on the EU market is sourced. In contrast to the current EU Timber Regulation, where products only need to be tracked beyond “country of harvest” where there is risk of illegality, Article 9 of the draft Regulation requires that operators collect information on We have the experience, the capacity and state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment to handle all your White Oak needs. PARTNER WITH THE ORIGINAL GRAF BROTHERS! Please turn to page 74 BY MICHAEL SNOW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN HARDWOOD EXPORT COUNCIL, STERLING, VA 703-435-2900 WWW.AHEC.ORG 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE www.RealAmericanHardwood.org QUALITY / LOYALTY / TRADITION www.grafbro.com 606-932-3117 sales@grafbro.com
