Global Timber Forum 22-23 May 2013

©FAO/Joan Manuel Baliellas / FAOResponsible timber trade is being seen as a key conduit for addressing illegal logging and its impact on deforestation. It is important that the international timber trade community keeps pace with the latest market requirements and new voluntary and regulatory measures, such as the EU Timber Regulation (which just came into force 3rd March 2013), the Voluntary Partnership Agreements under the FLEGT Initiative of the EU, and the US Lacey Act, to name the most prominent ones. The proliferation of green building schemes and public and private procurement policies also requires constant attention from the timber industry and trade. There are some concerns that the combined impact of new regulations and the current economic climate may induce a decline in tropical timber trade, including in legal and sustainable trade flows.

The Global Timber Forum (GTF) will be an important platform for sharing experiences on the changing timber trade conditions from all over the world. We expect GTF will initiate new collaborative actions for fostering responsible timber trade in a timely manner.

FAO, ETTF and TFT are fully committed to work in public-private partnerships to improve the legality and sustainability of forestry, industry and trade. We promote an open dialogue of international timber trade practitioners with timber producers, processors and the building and construction industry, but also with regulators, policy makers and legal experts. More frequent communication and feedback on the experiences in putting the various new instruments into practice is crucial for making them effective and acceptable to all stakeholders and key for enabling a steady growth in responsible trade practices.