EU queries legality of Amazonian mahogany imports
Date: 02-Apr-02
Country: EU
Author: Stefano Ambrogi
In a March 26 memo addressed to member states, and seen by Reuters, the European Commission said it was aware of problems relating to the arrival of cargoes of Brazilian or big leaf mahogany (Swietenia Macrophylla) into the European Union.
"These originated in Brazil and have arrived in several member states. They are accompanied by export permits whose legality has become a matter of dispute," the memo read.
The Commission said it was concerned the export permits were issued in contravention of the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
Brazilian mahogany, one of the most valuable of hardwoods, has its biggest markets in the United States, Canada, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Belgium.
It is used to make furniture, musical instruments, window frames and coffins.
Mahogany is listed under the CITES treaty to prevent its unsustainable or illegal exploitation, and Brazil is required to issue export permits if it is sold abroad.
The Brazilian Environment Agency IBAMA estimates there is as little as eight years of mahogany left in the Amazon at current rates of deforestation.
WAR ON ILLEGAL LOGGING
Brazil outlawed the trade and transport of mahogany in October after finding 70 percent of the timber was being logged illegally. In December, Brazil extended the ban to logging.
In February, with the aid of the army, Brazil launched a war against illegal logging deep in the Amazon forests in the hope of closing down smuggling routes and recovering $16 million worth of timber waiting at ports for shipment.
The Commission said the Brazilian government had told it that export permits had only been granted under pressure from local Brazilian courts. But the memo noted that a number of judicial decisions allowing certain Brazilian companies to export timber had now been reversed on appeal.
In light of this, the memo read, "the European Commission advises member states not to accept export permits for specimens of Swietenia Macrophylla from Brazil until further notice without first obtaining from the Brazilian authorities a statement that those specimens were legally acquired."
Late last week the German government impounded a 300 cubic metre (10,600 cu ft) shipment of Amazonian mahogany while it tried to clarify whether the timber had been logged legally.
Greenpeace said last week a similar cargo destined for the British market had been detained in the Netherlands.
The environmental pressure group said it had been granted a judicial review of a British government decision to allow a cargo to enter Britain in early March. The review will take place in the High Court on April 9.
The Amazon is the world's largest tropical forest covering an area larger than Western Europe and is home for up to 50 percent of the planet's plant and animal life. Environmentalists say many species are endangered by the alarming rates of deforestation.