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FOREST CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY

Imports of Illegal Amazonian Mahogany Banned by EU

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April 2, 2002

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by Forests.org

The European Union, lead by the European Commission, is on the

forefront of instituting change required to bring about ecologically

sustainable societies.  Moves by the EU to ban shipments of illegally

gotten Amazonian mahogany into Europe are the latest case in point. 

Illegal predatory logging in general - and particularly logging of

mahogany in the Amazon - threatens the existence globally of large and

fully intact and operable rainforests.  The European Union's bold

engagement on the war on illegal logging is a marvelous policy move. 

Now do not get me wrong, Europe has their share of looming

environmental crises, both internally (desertification, water quality,

dwindling habitats and need for restoration ecology) and externally

(conduct of European logging and fishing companies in Africa and

continued consumption of illegally logged tropical timbers).  But no

political entity on Earth has come further in identifying

deforestation and diminishment of natural habitats, climate change and

other environmental problems as threatening global security and our

very existence; and moved to implement progressive policies in

response.  The European Union has deservedly taken up the mantle of

global ecological leadership.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title:  EU queries legality of Amazonian mahogany imports 

Source:  Copyright 2002 Reuters

Date:  April 2, 2002

Byline:  Stefano Ambrogi 

LONDON - The European Commission has told EU states not to allow

shipments of Amazonian mahogany into Europe without ensuring that

the timber was felled legally.

In a March 26 memo addressed to member states, and seen by Reuters,

the European Commission said it was aware of problems relating to

the arrival of cargoes of Brazilian or big leaf mahogany (Swietenia

Macrophylla) into the European Union.

"These originated in Brazil and have arrived in several member

states. They are accompanied by export permits whose legality has

become a matter of dispute," the memo read.

The Commission said it was concerned the export permits were issued

in contravention of the Convention on the International Trade of

Endangered Species (CITES).

Brazilian mahogany, one of the most valuable of hardwoods, has its

biggest markets in the United States, Canada, Chile, Germany, the

Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Belgium.

It is used to make furniture, musical instruments, window frames and

coffins.

Mahogany is listed under the CITES treaty to prevent its

unsustainable or illegal exploitation, and Brazil is required to

issue export permits if it is sold abroad.

The Brazilian Environment Agency IBAMA estimates there is as little

as eight years of mahogany left in the Amazon at current rates of

deforestation.

WAR ON ILLEGAL LOGGING

Brazil outlawed the trade and transport of mahogany in October after

finding 70 percent of the timber was being logged illegally. In

December, Brazil extended the ban to logging.

In February, with the aid of the army, Brazil launched a war against

illegal logging deep in the Amazon forests in the hope of closing

down smuggling routes and recovering $16 million worth of timber

waiting at ports for shipment.

The Commission said the Brazilian government had told it that export

permits had only been granted under pressure from local Brazilian

courts. But the memo noted that a number of judicial decisions

allowing certain Brazilian companies to export timber had now been

reversed on appeal.

In light of this, the memo read, "the European Commission advises

member states not to accept export permits for specimens of

Swietenia Macrophylla from Brazil until further notice without first

obtaining from the Brazilian authorities a statement that those

specimens were legally acquired."

Late last week the German government impounded a 300 cubic metre

(10,600 cu ft) shipment of Amazonian mahogany while it tried to

clarify whether the timber had been logged legally.

Greenpeace said last week a similar cargo destined for the British

market had been detained in the Netherlands.

The environmental pressure group said it had been granted a judicial

review of a British government decision to allow a cargo to enter

Britain in early March. The review will take place in the High Court

on April 9.

The Amazon is the world's largest tropical forest covering an area

larger than Western Europe and is home for up to 50 percent of the

planet's plant and animal life. Environmentalists say many species

are endangered by the alarming rates of deforestation.

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