What's Happening from Environmental Building News
Illegal Timber Trade Targeted by New Law
The U.S. has taken a major step toward interrupting the importation of illegally harvested timber by amending a law used for more than a century to combat illegal trade in animals. The Lacey Act, created in 1900 to protect game, already protected some species of plants. In a June 2008 vote, Congress amended the Act to prevent the sale of all timber and other plant materials illegally harvested elsewhere. The U.S. is the world’s leading consumer of wood products, 10% of which (excluding paper and pulp), according to the nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency, is at “high risk” of illegal origin.
The Lacey Act bolsters other federal, state, and foreign laws regulating trade in flora and fauna, and will be enforced by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. The law, which goes into effect on November 18, 2008, requires importers to declare the species and country of origin of foreign lumber. Violators of the law face civil and criminal penalties that vary depending in part on whether they are judged to have knowingly traded in illegal material or only failed to take “due care.” Federal authorities are empowered under the act to seize illegal timber even if the parties involved in its possession are not aware of its illegality.
The amendment had the support of such environmental groups as the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and Greenpeace, as well as industry groups such as the American Forest & Paper Association, the Hardwood Federation, and Wood Flooring International. Illegally harvested timber, often from the developing world, drives down the price of lawfully cut U.S. timber; accordingly, U.S. timber and wood-product interests welcome the act as a means of protecting their market share.
Major organizations maintaining sustainable forestry standards, including the Forest Stewardship Council and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, have lauded the amendment and are likely to benefit from it. Third-party certification of legitimate harvesting and chain-of-custody monitoring can afford a significant protection against liability, and the expertise of certifying organizations is likely to see increased demand among those who trade in timber of foreign origin.
– Michael Wilmeth
October 1, 2008
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