Danzer rejects Greenpeace’s EUTR approach

The environmental group wants authorities to seize the "endangered wood" from Danzer's Bohemia Dyharna veneer processing factory under the terms of the recently-introduced EU Timber Regulation (EUTR).

But Danzer says it did not buy or import the logs.

Danzer said the logs were shipped by a third party to the Czech Republic for toll manufacturing - a service where Danzer provides production capacity for third parties.

The company pointed out that the EUTR makes the first importer into the EU responsible for ensuring legality, which in this case was not Danzer.

However, Danzer said it did not want to be associated with illegal timber and would co-operate with Czech authorities to verify the legal status of the logs.

"As the respective controls of the national institutions in charge of the individual EU member countries may not yet work to full satisfaction, Danzer Bohemia Dyharna from now onwards will request from their customers' third-party verification for logs of African origin delivered for toll manufacturing to their plant," Danzer said.

Danzer says its own log supply procurement system was fully compliant with the EUTR.

The environmental group claims the wenge shipment came from the Bakri Bois Corporation in the Democratic Republic of Congo and arrived at the port of Antwerp on April 24 before being sent on to Danzer.

Danzer says the fact the logs left Belgium meant it had to be assumed the Belgium authorities could not confirm allegations of illegality first raised by Greenpeace on April 26.

Greenpeace claims the wood has the marks of the Bakri Bois Corporation concession contract in Equateur province, DRC, which it says is classified as illegal by the DRC's EU-funded independent forest observer Resource Extraction Monitoring.