Imposing legality: hegemony and resistance under the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) initiative

Ahmad Maryudi,Rebecca Rutt,Constance Mcdermott,Hoàng Cầm,Rodd Myers,Marisa Camargo,Emmanuel Acheampong

doi:10.2458/v27i1.23208

Abstract

Timber legality trade restrictions and verification are a bundle of contemporary mechanisms triggered by global concerns about forest degradation and deforestation. The European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade initiative is a significant effort to not only screen out illegal timber and wood products from the EU, but also support trading partner countries to improve their legality definitions and verification processes. But by using bilateral agreements (Voluntary Partnership Agreements) as a key mechanism, the EU legitimizes trade partner nation-states as the authority to decide what is legal. We engage in a theoretical debate about the complexities of the meaning of legality, and then analyze empirical data collected from interviews in Ghana, Indonesia, Vietnam and Europe with policy, civil society and industry actors to understand how different actors understand legality. We find hegemonic notions of Westphalian statehood at the core of 'global' notions of legality and often contrast with local understandings of legality. Non-state actors understand these hegemonic notions of legality as imposed upon them and part of a colonial legacy. Further, notions of legality that fail to conform with hegemonic understandings are readily framed by nation-states as immoral or criminal. We emphasize the importance of understanding these framings to elucidate the embedded assumptions about what comprises legality within assemblages of global actors.Key words: FLEGT, timber legality, hegemony, power, globalization

Highlights

Timber legality trade restrictions and verification are a bundle of contemporary mechanisms implemented in response to global concerns regarding forest degradation and deforestation
We further explore the ways in which nonconformity with nation-state definitions of timber legality are understood by different actors, including the ways in which contrasting perspectives are framed by hegemonic powers
We focus on Indonesia, Ghana, and Europe; Vietnam has, been excluded since the effects of Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) had been less pronounced in the country at the time we conducted the fieldwork

Summary

Introduction

Timber legality trade restrictions and verification are a bundle of contemporary mechanisms implemented in response to global concerns regarding forest degradation and deforestation. Since timber production is a significant driver of forest loss, and illegally traded. Journal of Political Ecology timber products account for between 15 and 30 percent of total global timber markets (Interpol 2017), global actors have adopted tackling illegal timber trade as a key strategy to address forest loss (see McDermott 2014). VPAs, the first major FLEGT mechanism to be adopted, involve negotiated bilateral agreements between the EU and timber producing countries. These agreements define legal timber in the country of origin and establish a timber legality assurance system (TLAS) to verify and certify legality (EU FLEGT Facility 2009). Seven countries – Ghana, Indonesia, Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Liberia, and Vietnam have entered into VPAs with the EU (EU FLEGT Facility 2019)

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