A Customs Control and Timber Products Classification manual designed to facilitate the development of customs personnel in the area of controlling the movement of forest goods has been released in Russia. The manual was produced as part of the EU-funded ENPI FLEG forestry programme and with support from the WWF-IKEA Forest Partnership project.

“It is expected to become a useful tool for counteracting illegal timber exports,” said an ENPI FLEG press release, adding that “it will undoubtedly become an important aide to the special training course on customs control, identification and examination of timber materials developed jointly by the Russian Customs Academy and WWF and introduced in 2011”.

 

The manual is intended for university students, graduate students and instructors, as well as for the staff of the customs service and everyone interested in the customs regulation of trans-border movement of timber products. It provides detailed accounts of the specifics of timber customs control methods of categorising timber by species and grades; timber measuring procedures during customs clearance; the principles of classifying timber products; and the rules of licensing and declaring timber. The authors also provide case studies from the customs practice of classifying forest goods.



 

“Illegal logging and associated trade are, as of present, one of the most critical issues facing Russia’s forest sector. According to various data, they account for 10 to 35% of the total forest use in the country; and in some regions of Russia up to 50% of timber has either an illegal, or questionable and not confirmed by official documentation origin,” says Elena Kulikova, WWF Russia’s Forest Programme Director. “We hope that this manual, as well as the other work of WWF in this direction, will help the customs service in their effort to check illegal timber trade.”

 

According to WWF, instituting stricter control over the export of wood products at the customs service is one of the key aspects of addressing the problem of illegal logging and associated trade. Stopping illegal timber export depends largely on the professional competence of the staff of the customs service and their ability to correctly classify shipped goods and make proper decisions.

 

The €6 million ENPI Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) programme supports governments, civil society and the private sector in the development of sound and sustainable forest management practices, including the prevention of illegal forestry activities. (EU Neighbourhood Info)

 

 

 

ENPI-FLEG – website

 

Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) – fiche and news 

 

ENPI Info Centre - Preventing illegal logging in the EU and Russia with the support of ENPI FLEG

 

ENPI Info Centre – Manual on improving forest law enforcement in Russia approved as higher education textbook