EC publishes report on effectiveness of EUTR
On 18 February 2016, the EC published a report on the effectiveness of EUTR during the first two years of implementation. It shows progress of implementation but also a need for more efforts from both Member States and the private sector.
The report confirms that the types and level of sanctions for infringements are highly divergent across Member States and that Competent Authorities have different understandings and enforcement of the EUTR. The report suggests that insufficient resources allocated to CAs are a major challenge for the effective enforcement of the EUTR. Implementation and compliance are also uneven among the private sector, but EU operators seem to have increasingly applied EUTR due diligence requirements.
The report was written by the European Commission and can be read here. It is partially based on the information and findings from the review report developed by Efeca in cooperation with Indufor and the University of Padua within the Project “Support to EC on the implementation of the EU Timber Regulation”.
Further activities of this project included developing Biennial Reports for the Competent Authorities to report back to the EC on EUTR implementation, assessing applications of monitoring organisations as well as undertaking a stakeholder consultation across Member States. The consultation provided an opportunity for stakeholders to submit their views on the application of EUTR.
To view the results from the stakeholder consultation, go to the EC’s Your Voice in Europe portal here and scroll to the bottom.
