Under FLEGT, supplier countries sign up to a Voluntary Partnership Agreement committing to establish a timber legality assurance system and associated chain of custody framework. Once the VPA is approved, the country’s government is allowed to issue FLEGT licences to timber and wood products for export to the EU, exempting them from further due diligence illegality risk assessment under the EUTR.
Defra originally gave the role for policing FLEGT to the Animal Health Veterinary Laboratory Agency, which is responsible for UK CITES enforcement. However, following what is widely regarded as an effective first year’s work with the timber sector on EUTR implementation, the NMO gets the job instead.
"I think it shows Defra is happy with how we’ve approached the EUTR," said NMO head of enforcement Michael Kearney. "And it is a logical streamlined approach. As EUTR and FLEGT are so interrelated, it is more efficient to have one competent authority overseeing both and, of course, we’ve already engaged with the timber trade and established relationships. Other EU countries have also given both jobs to a single body."
In the FLEGT role it will work closely with the UK Border Agency and HMRC.
"Our job will be to check that licences are correct and apply to the particular product," said Mr Kearney. "If there are doubts, we will check back with appropriate agencies in the supplier country."
As no FLEGT licences have yet been issued (Ghana and Indonesia expect to be the first to get the greenlight this year), the NMO is uncertain of the workload it will face.
"But it will not interfere with our EUTR activity and we will recruit to cope, as necessary," said Mr Kearney.
Timber Trade Federation chief executive John White said the NMO’s appointment was "eminently sensible".
"We’ve been impressed with the logical approach it has taken in EUTR implementation, and it has already established a good deal of intelligence and understanding of the trade," he said. "The principles involved in FLEGT licensing are also exactly those it has been exploring with us in EUTR management."
Mr Kearney also confirmed that the NMO attended the initial summit meeting of EUTR competent authorities at the end of last year, the first step toward greater liaison and intelligence sharing between them to ensure uniform enforcement of the Regulation across Europe.
