​Information for UK importers likely to be affected by the FLEGT-licensing regime

The EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Regulation establishes rules for the import of timber products covered by Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) between the EU and timber-exporting countries. Once VPAs are fully implemented, timber-exporting countries will issue FLEGT licences which verify the timber’s legality.

Following an announcement on 15th September, the European Commission confirmed that Indonesia will start to issue FLEGT licences to the EU on 15th November 2016.

Timber and timber products with a valid FLEGT licence are regarded as being legally harvested under the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). This means that importers of Indonesian wood products are not required to undertake further due diligence checks in order to comply with the EUTR.

Further information and a comprehensive frequently asked questions (FAQs) section can be found on the European Commission FLEGT website www.flegtlicence.org .

The Furniture Industry Research Association have contributed to the industry communications consultation process and a short Frequently Asked Questions document is being developed to address questions specific to licensing in the UK.

Importers of FLEGT-licensed timber will be required to submit the electronic FLEGT licence for verification to Regulatory Delivery before the timber arrives in the UK. There is a cost recovery fee to cover the cost of Government agencies involved in the validation and processing of FLEGT licences in the UK. This has been reduced from £31 to £9.60 per licence and is now set in law under The Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (Amendment) Regulations 2016

An electronic process is being developed for licenses to be submitted, details of which will be published in due course.