Activities of Heidi HAUTALA related to 2018/0272M(NLE)
Legal basis opinions (0)
Amendments (20)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 11 a (new)
Citation 11 a (new)
- having regard to the report of UNEP of 2012 entitled ´Green carbon, black trade: illegal logging, tax fraud and laundering in the world's tropical forests1a, _________________ 1a http://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/2 0.500.11822/8030/Green%20carbon%20B lack%20Trade_%20Illegal %20logging.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed= y
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the objective of the VPA is to provide a legal framework aimed at ensuring that all timber and timber product imports from Vietnam into the EU covered by the VPA have been produced legally; whereas VPAs are generally intended to foster systemic changes in the forestry sector aiming at sustainable management of forests, eradicate illegal logging, as well as support worldwide efforts to stop deforestation and forest degradation;
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas Vietnam is a significant country in the context of the timber trade, home to the world’s sixfourth-largest, export- oriented wood processing sector and aiming to become the largest; whereas, as a processing hub, Vietnam is a major exporter of timber products to the EU but also to countries in the region, notably China and Japan;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas Vietnam is a major importer of timber and timber products, with its factories consuming some 34 million cubic meters of timber and timber products in 2017, of which 25 % was imported and 75 % was from domestic plantations, many owned and managed by smallholders; whereas imports grew in value by 68 % over the period 2011-2017; whereas in recent years, Vietnam has made considerable progress in reducing domestic deforestation and has increased its forested area from 37% in 2005 to 41,65% in 2018, including industrial plantations; whereas Vietnam enforces a prohibition to log domestic natural forest since 2016;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the biggest source countries for logs and sawn timber in 2017 were Cameroon, USA and Cambodia, alongside Democratic Republic of Congo as a notable supplier; whereas, since 2015, Cambodia has been Vietnam’s second largest tropical timber supplier, in spite of a reported ban7 on exports to Vietnam; whereas a 43% increase of imports from African countries was reported between 2016-2017; _________________ 7 https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ despite-ban-timber-exports-vietnam- nearing-2016-total
Amendment 8 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. whereas in Cambodia the deforestation rate is ranked number 5 in the world and whereas UN statistics show that Cambodia’s forest cover fell from 73% in 1990 to 57% in 2010;
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
E b. whereas, based on Article 3 of Sub-decree No. 131 of November 2006, Cambodia prohibits exports of round logs except from plantations, rough sawn timber except from plantations, square and rectangular timber of thickness and width more than 25 cm1b; whereas all export of natural forest timber products from Cambodia are in principle deemed to be in breach of Cambodian law; whereas, under the VPA, Vietnam is committed to only import timber that has been legally harvested according to the national legislation of the source country; _________________ 1b https://eia-international.org/wp- content/uploads/eia-serial-offender- web.pdf, p. 6.
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas under a VPA, a country commits to setting up a policy with a view to ensuring that only timber and timber products verified as legal will be exported to the EU8 ; whereas Vietnam will have to adopt legislation putting in place the Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS), and set up the necessary administrative structures and capacity in order to implement and enforce its VPA commitments; whereas this VPA will apply to timber and timber products intended for both domestic and export markets, save for the final step of FLEGT licensing, which is for the time being intended for exports to the EU only; _________________ 8 The VPA covers all major products exported to the EU, particularly the five compulsory timber products as defined in the 2005 FLEGT Regulation (logs, sawn timber, railway sleepers, plywood and veneer) and also includes a number of other timber products such as wood chip particles, parquet flooring, particle board and wooden furniture. The VPA covers exports to all third countries though, at least initially, the licencing scheme only applies to EU exports.
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the signature of the VPA with Vietnam, an agreement designed to bring a complete policy reform in the country aimed at cleaning illegally produced timber from the supply chains of Vietnamese operators; is aware that the full implementation of the VPA will be a long- term process entailing not only the adoption of a whole set of legislation (TLAS) but also ensuring that adequate administrative capacity for implementation and enforcement of the VPA is in place; recalls that FLEGT licencing can start only once Vietnam has demonstrated the readiness of its TLAS system; takes note of the challenge represented by the coordination between the national and provincial levels, which is necessary in order to adequately enforce the VPA;
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Calls on the Commission and the EEAS to allocate adequate resources to the implementation of this VPA, including ensuring adequate resources to the EU Delegation in Hanoi, as well as financial resources in terms of development cooperation to Vietnam to be specifically earmarked for the implementation of the VPA; encourages the Commission and the EEAS to assist the Vietnamese authorities and civil society including by making satellite images available to them;
Amendment 18 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes Vietnam’s commitment to adopt legislation to ensure that only legally produced timber is imported into its market, based on mandatory due diligence for importers, as one of the major achievements of the VPA; recalls that due diligence obligations should not be reduced to a mere box-ticking exercise, but that they should include all necessary steps, - such as gathering information, assessing the risks and taking additional measures to mitigate any risk identified with a view to reducing the risk level to ‘negligible’ - to be enforced by the competent national authorities through sound and systematic checks on individual companies; highlights the challenge of enforcing due diligence obligations through customs authorities, which will require adequate training; expects that the Vietnamese authorities adopt a due diligence system corresponding to the one provided in the EU Timber Regulation and stresses the need to provide for independent third party submissions in the relevant due diligence legislation; encourages Vietnamese authorities to consider third- party auditing and companies’ public reporting as requirements of their due diligence system, as well as to publish handbooks and guidelines to support companies in complying with their obligations;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Government of Vietnam to provide for adequate, dissuasive and proportionate penalties for infringement of legislation implementing TLAS, which would in the case of imports include a full prohibition of the placing on the Vietnamese market of illegal timber, alongside the seizure of such timber; calls on the Vietnamese government to ensure relentless enforcement of these penalties thus preventing the ‘laundering’ of illegal timber through the VPA;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Welcomes the independent evaluation and complaints and feedback mechanism and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to ensure that these are responded to adequately, including via effective and dissuasive enforcement action when necessary; welcomes the commitment by Vietnam to ensure independent monitoring of the VPA implementation by civil society organisations, forest associations, enterprises, trade unions, local communities and people living in the forest areas; stresses the importance of their access to relevant and up to date information to enable them to fulfil their role in this process and to further contribute to the credibility of TLAS and its continuous strengthening; welcomes the commitment of the Vietnamese authorities to allow access to civil society to the national database on forestry; encourages the Vietnamese government to submit TLAS implementing legislation to public consultation and take into account their feedback;
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Welcomes the involvement of civil society organisations during and following the VPA negotiations and calls on the Government of Vietnam to ensure a genuinely inclusive process during the whole implementation phase and beyond, covering the entire scope of the VPA, including import controls, due diligence obligations, organisation classification system and risk-based verification of companies;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Strongly condemns the illegal timber trade taking place across the Cambodian border and calls on the authorities of both countries to put an immediate and complete stop to the illegal flows; urges the Vietnamese authorities to investigate, remove from function and bring to justice those responsible for having authorised and managed the illegal trade from Cambodia and elsewhere; encourawelcomes the recent decision taken by the Vietnamese authorities to only allow timber trade through the main international gates, as well as to strengthen enforcement capabilities against illegal trade; urges the Vietnamese authorities to immediately categorise timber from Cambodia as ‘high risk’ and to carefully consider the option of applying an import ban for Cambodia; calls on the two countries to foster and improve dialoguemake sure Cambodian legislation on harvest and export of timber is respected, in line with VPA commitments; recalls that the presence of Cambodian timber in supply chains risks inflicting reputational damage to the Vietnamese processing industry; calls on the two countries to foster and improve dialogue, cross-border cooperation and exchange of trade data, and encourages them to rely on the EU to facilitate this dialogue; encourages Vietnam and Cambodia to request support from Interpol to tackle the illegal timber flows and smuggling; calls on the Vietnamese authorities to apply the same measures to imports from other supplier countries where similar concerns exist or may arise, notably those in Africa;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Calls on the Vietnamese authorities to adoptWelcomes the recent adoption by the Vietnamese government of an action plan for VPAthe implementation; calls onf the Vietnamese authorities also to adopt an action plan specifically aimed at addressing ongoingPA, but remains cautious as to the possibility to start FLEGT licencing already in 2021; welcomes the entry into force of the new Forestry Law on 1 January 2019, which includes a prohibition to imports of illegally produced timber, that would bridge the gap until TLAS becomes operational, thus retaining a high level of commitment to the VPA process into Vietnam and calls on the Vietnamese authorities to immediately enforce this prohibition and to swiftly adopt implementing measures if necessary, as part of an action plan bridging the gap until TLAS becomes operational;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9 a. Asks the Commission to annually report to the Parliament on progress made by Vietnam in implementing the VPA, including against the requirements of this Resolution, as well as on the activities of the Joint Implementation Committee, with a view to allowing an informed decision once the delegated act authorizing the acceptance of FLEGT licences will be proposed; is of the view that FLEGT licences should be revoked in case of failure to comply with the commitments of the VPA and calls on the Commission to propose the necessary changes to the relevant EU legislation on FLEGT licences;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 b (new)
Paragraph 9 b (new)
9 b. Calls on the Commission to foster dialogue with the major importing countries in the region such as China and Japan and to further prioritise the need for concrete solutions to stop illegal timber trade in the bilateral relations with those countries, including in trade relations; supports the Commission in launching VPA negotiations with Vietnam’s neighbouring countries as soon as the necessary conditions are fulfilled and urges the Commission and the EEAS to prioritise FLEGT VPAs in future development and cooperation instruments;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 c (new)
Paragraph 9 c (new)
9 c. Welcomes the inclusion of provisions on sustainable management of forests in the EU-Vietnam FTA, which also make the connection with the VPA; calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to trade in timber and timber products during the implementation of the FTA and to closely monitor trade flows, to make sure the additional trade liberalisation does not entail additional risks of illegal trade;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of the Member States and, of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and of the Kingdom of Cambodia.