The Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) welcomed the strong political commitment of the European Parliament to address the issue of illegal logging in Europe shown in its vote yesterday on the Caroline Lucas report.

Brussels – According to CEPI, the European pulp and paper industries are already active in this field and have systems in place to ensure the legality of wood used in Europe today.
 
“CEPI, has developed a voluntarily code of conduct which has been endorsed by all of its members and which ensures that chain of custody, traceability and tracking systems are in place,” the organisation says. “This initiative has already minimised the imports of illegal wood into the EU and the industry is committed to maintain its stringent approach to ensure this continues.”

In the words of Bernard de Galembert, Forest director at CEPI, this vote shows the importance of the issue to the EUs political commitment to good forest governance. “The Pulp and paper industry also takes its responsibility in this field very seriously”, he said. “For the result of this vote to be successful we need to ensure that the final text of this legislation is proportionate and ensures effectiveness whilst recognising the work already being done and the systems currently in place”.

“WWF in its report ‘Illegal Wood for the European Market’ (July 2008) acknowledged the work being done by our industry to help combat illegal logging and recognised that our tracking systems are among the most efficient currently available” he continued.

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