27 November 2013 – German authorities have seized two
batches of illegal timber from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The
seizure is the strongest case of enforcement of an EU law banning the trade in
illegally sourced timber which took effect in March 2013. The government action
was triggered by a tip-off from Greenpeace.
“This sends a strong signal to all loggers and their
buyers in Europe to steer clear of dodgy business. We urge German authorities
to conduct a full inquiry and not let the companies involved off the hook,”
said Danielle van Oijen, forest campaigner at Greenpeace Netherlands.
EU countries must increase efforts to implement and
enforce the European timber regulation, said Greenpeace. Illegal timber will
continue to enter the EU market, unless strong action is taken against those
who break the law.
The seized timber is from the endangered wengé
tropical tree species. It was logged by Lebanese-owned Bakri Bois Corporation
(BBC) in the DRC. The BBC logs were taken to the Belgian port of Antwerp in
April 2013 for Swiss-based timber trader Bois d’Afrique Mondiale and were
eventually placed on the EU market by three German timber companies. A separate
batch ended up in the Czech Republic for processing.
“Illegal and destructive logging must stop for the
sake of the forests and the millions of people who depend on them. The
Congolese government should cancel BBC’s illegal concession contract and
investigate and prosecute anybody involved in a suspected falsification of
official documents. Not one splinter of illegal wood from the DRC must find its
way to Europe,” said Raoul Monsembula, country coordinator for Greenpeace
Africa in the DRC.
The timber was logged under an illegal concession
contract, according to a government-approved report by independent DRC forest
observer Resource Extraction Monitoring. A joint field mission by Greenpeace
Africa, Global Witness and local NGOs confirmed these independent reports and
found other cases of irregularities.
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