Transparency Index of the Supplying Countries’ Institutions and Tree Cover Loss: Determining Factors of EU Timber Imports?

Encarnación Moral-Pajares,Leticia Gallego-Valero,Ángela Andrea Caviedes-Conde,Concepción Martínez-Alcalá

doi:10.3390/f11091009

Encarnación Moral-Pajares, Leticia Gallego-Valero + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/f11091009

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Journal: Forests	Publication Date: Sep 19, 2020
Citations: 6	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Jaén, King Juan Carlos University

Abstract

Illegal logging and the associated deforestation have serious consequences for biodiversity, the climate, the economy and society. The EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) prohibits the placing of illegally harvested timber or timber products on the market. The objective of this paper is to analyse the recent evolution of EU imports of these products from the international market, in order to check how the transparency index of the supplying countries’ institutions and tree cover loss have influenced this trajectory. To that end, a panel data model is estimated with 228 observations from 38 exporting countries between 2012 and 2017. The results show that EU timber imports have a direct association with the transparency index and an inverse relationship with tree cover loss; both these relationships are highly significant at the one-percent level. Other significant factors are the performance of the EU construction sector (as a proxy for timber demand) and timber supply. In the short and medium-term, Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) signed between the EU and non-EU timber-producing countries have a negative influence on the supply to EU member states. This study presents an analysis of EU timber imports after the implementation of the EUTR, providing specific conclusions that can inform policymakers’ efforts to foster sustainable forest management.

Highlights

Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) in 2003 [1,2]
Based on the arguments set out above, this paper examines whether there is a relationship between purchases in the international market and the transparency of the supplying countries’ institutions, the tree cover loss in these countries, the number of forest hectares in the supplier country in which forest management is certified by an independent third party in accordance with an internationally recognised scheme, the development of the construction sector in the EU, the productive forest hectares in the country, the average distance the imported products have to travel and whether there is an agreement to promote legal timber trade between partners
There is a high degree of dispersion in the main variable—imports of timber and timber products—as well as in some of the independent variables, such as the certified forest hectares (CFH) and the timber supply (TS)

Summary

Introduction

Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) in 2003 [1,2]. The EU is one of the world’s largest importers of timber, and its actions can play a role in improving the legality of the production and sale of timber. In 2017, EU countries accounted for more than 35% of total world imports of timber and timber products, and, almost three-quarters of these trade flows are within the EU [3], purchases from third countries represented 26.35% of the total. The FLEGT represents the EU’s first tool for improving forest management and encouraging the trade of legally produced timber [5]. To achieve this objective, Regulation (EU) 2173/2005 and Regulation (EU) 1024/2008 authorised the European Commission

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