§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what requirements there are on timber merchants to identify the source of timber imported into the UK. [125152]
§ Nigel GriffithsNone. The Timber Trade Federation operates a code of practice and organisations like the WWF 1995 Plus Group have been set up to encourage merchants and retailers to promote business methods that are consistent with sustainable forestry practices.
§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry from which countries the UK imports timber; what percentage of the total timber import comes from each country; what percentage is from unidentified sources; and what steps the Government takes to ensure the timber is from sustainable sources in each country. [125153]
§ Nigel GriffithsData on the UK's imports of timber are given in the following table.
Statistics on UK imports of goods are compiled by HM Customs and Excise. The information is published on the basis of the country of consignment: which is normally the last country in which a commercial transaction takes place. Information on the country of consignment is comprehensive for countries outside the European Union (EU). Within the EU detailed information is collected from all but very small traders. Overall, small traders are estimated to account for 2–3 per cent. of the value of UK trade with the EU, or about half that for total UK trade in goods. HM Customs and Excise do not collect from importers information relating to the precise origin of the timber, ie. whether or not the timber was forested from a legal and sustainably managed source, other than the country of consignment.
Comprehensive data, by country of origin are not available. The free flow of goods within the Single European Market means that information on the country of origin is not always available when goods are first imported into another European Union country and then consigned to the UK.
The Government have shown leadership in its strong encouragement of the European Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) process. This is part of the EU's wider objective to encourage sustainable forest management and ensure that timber entering the EU is sustainably sourced. The Government are broadly supportive of the Commission's recently published FLEGT action plan and will work with other member states to ensure the Commission is able to make rapid progress.
163W
UK imports of timber in 2002 Country £000 Percentage share Total Imports 1,295,351 100.00 Sweden 325,172 25.10 Latvia 205,504 15.86 Finland 193,389 14.93 USA 75,570 5.83 Russia 65,909 5.09 Canada 62,164 4.80 Estonia 52,680 4.07 Irish Republic 43,462 3.36 164W
UK imports of timber in 2002 Country £000 Percentage share Germany 31,326 2.42 Malaysia 26,536 2.05 France 20,239 1.56 Netherlands 19.813 1.53 Italy 19,720 1.52 Lithuania 14,144 1.09 Norway 12,932 1.00 Cameroon 12,851 0.99 Brazil 12,575 0.97 Indonesia 10,740 0.83 Belgium 10,377 0.80 Denmark 7,937 0.61 China 7,931 0.61 Ivory Coast 7,551 0.58 Czech Republic 6,951 0.54 Ghana 6,570 0.51 Poland 5,080 0.39 Singapore 4,096 0.32 Portugal 3,726 0.29 Austria 3,000 0.23 Chile 2,955 0.23 Guyana 2,424 0.19 South Africa 2,258 0.17 Spain 1,943 0.15 Slovakia 1,528 0.12 Romania 1,520 0.12 Thailand 1,406 0.11 Australia 1,259 0.10 Congo 1,124 0.09 Honduras 1,080 0.08 Taiwan 1,074 0.08 Liberia 1,012 0.08 Burma 979 0.08 Hong Kong 690 0.05 Ukraine 600 0.05 Philippines 510 0.04 Switzerland 384 0.03 Hungary 319 0.02 India 314 0.02 New Zealand 307 0.02 Serbia and Montenegro 267 0.02 Turkey 262 0.02 Zaire 255 0.02 Tanzania 223 0.02 Costa Rica 210 0.02 Bosnia and Herzegovina 185 0.01 Zimbabwe 171 0.01 Slovenia 143 0.01 Gabon 136 0.01 Papua New Guinea 134 0.01 Bulgaria 132 0.01 Cyprus 129 0.01 Luxembourg 121 0.01 Gibraltar 114 0.01 Japan 107 0.01 Nigeria 95 0.01 Guinea 84 0.01 Croatia 79 0.01 Ecuador 78 0.01 Central African Rep. 77 0.01 Bolivia 57 0.00 British Virgin Islands 52 0.00 South Korea 52 0.00 Algeria 37 0.00 Greece 37 0.00 Mozambique 36 0.00 Jamaica 35 0.00 Dominican Republic 35 0.00 Belize 34 0.00 Vatican City 34 0.00 Peru 31 0.00 Panama (inc. Former Canal Zone) 27 0.00 Laos 25 0.00
UK imports of timber in2002 Country £000 Percentageshare Antigua and Barbuda 25 0.00 Surinam 21 0.00 Syria 18 0.00 Madagascar 17 0.00 Macedonia 16 0.00 Armentina 15 0.00 Burundi 14 0.00 Sharjah etc. 12 0.00 Dubai 12 0.00 Saudi Arabia 10 0.00 Mexico 8 0.00 Bahamas 8 0.00 Malta 8 0.00 Libya 7 0.00 Israel 6 0.00 Namibia 6 0.00 Argentina 6 0.00 Trinidad and Tobago 5 0.00 Mauritius 5 0.00 Swaziland 4 0.00 Sri Lanka 3 0.00 Gambia 2 0.00 Note:
Timber is defined as headings 247 and 248 of the Standard International Trade Classification, Rev 3 (SITC).
Source:
Compiled by DTI from HM Customs and Excise data