Briefing on the Commission proposal against illegally harvested timber

Last October, the European Commission (EC) announced the preparation of a forest package which would include measures to reduce deforestation and a legislative proposal to prevent the marketing of illegally harvested timber and timber products in the EU. The EU timber regulation is scheduled to be adopted on 23 July, whereas the EC proposal on reducing deforestation is expected to be put forward later this year, ahead of the UN Climate Summit in Poznan on 1-14 December 2008. The EC forest package is also a priority of the 18-month joint programme of the future French, Czech and Swedish Presidencies of the EU.