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LOCAL TIMBER MERCHANTS “SHOULD RISK PROSECUTION”
NEWS that the
European Commission is to propose measures to ban the import of
illegally felled timber has been welcomed by a Southport Euro-MP.
Demand from Southport households for furniture and DIY wooden goods
is playing a part in feeding an illegal trade in timber that is
damaging some of the world’s poorest countries.
Corruption and poorly enforced laws in developing nations are
allowing criminals to destroy virgin forests that are home to
thousands of rare species. Deforestation accounts for 20% of all
greenhouse gas emissions, more carbon dioxide than is produced by
all worldwide transport. But the business is possible only
because buyers here turn a blind eye to it or are deceived by false
certification paperwork. Demand by consumers across Europe for
building materials, furniture and paper fuels the trade which every
year destroys forests with a total area 4 times the size of Belgium.
A voluntary licensing scheme for timber imports into the EU designed
to combat illegal timber felling was first introduced in 2005. But
this has not proved sufficient and the Commission has now accepted
that MEP calls for legal redress must now be adopted.
The Liberal Democrat spokesman on the environment warns that people
in Southport are putting profits into the hands of criminals because
of a lack of guarantees that the wood they buy has come from
sustainable sources. He said:- “New laws are urgently
needed to force timber buyers in EU nations to purchase only from
properly licensed sources. Some encouraging progress is being
made by the timber trade in Britain to ensure that the source of
trees can be confirmed, but it is still the case that hardly a
single merchant can guarantee that they have not purchased wood from
illegally felled trees. There will be no forests left at all
unless we take steps quickly to ensure that people can be confident
of the purchases they are making. Businesses then that put profit
before forest survival should be prosecuted.”
Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) schemes seek to provide a
sustainable source of timber. The FSC is endorsed by major
environmental charities and identifies wood products sourced from
well-managed forests.
These products range from bookcases sold by Homebase to bird tables from Woolworths, and can be identified by
the unique FSC logo. But Mr Davies would like to see a massive
expansion in such initiatives across Europe so that consumers can
have confidence that no wood products are made from illegal timber.
The Commission is set to announce the new measures later this year. |
Euro MP says Europe must act on missing children
LABOUR'S Chair
of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee and one of
the Parliament’s key children’s rights campaigners, Arlene McCarthy
MEP, will this week give her backing to the launch of a Written
Declaration on missing children. Arlene said:- “National
statistics on missing children across Europe show that this is an
area where Europe can and must act to track down, identify and
recover missing children.”
Last week Arlene met with the European Commission to discuss
progress on an EU Amber Alert system, a child sex offender’s
register and the operation and functioning of the EU missing
children Hotline, following concerns raised with her by parents and
families and children’s rights group.
Arlene added:- “Last May I urged the Commission to look at
adopting the US Amber Alert system for missing children. The UK
operates a child rescue alert system, Belgium operates an electronic
information network in 6,600 shops where national lottery tickets
are sold and France operates its own alert system.
Some member states keep national data on missing children some do
not. So far only four member states have taken up the European
116000 hotline number for missing children. Action is patchy and the
27 different member states approach is diverse.
The European Commission is ideally placed to co-ordinate and
encourage action. We could follow the model of the US Centre for
Missing and Exploited Children by getting European member states to
commit themselves to the range of actions the US Centre is already
committed to.
Even though the US states have different laws and criteria for
activating an Amber Alert, there is a general system designed to
protection children.”
Commenting on the visit of Gerry and Kate McCann to the European
Parliament this week to launch the Written Declaration, Arlene
said:- “It is always good to have an exchange with family and
parents who have suffered the personal trauma of a missing child.
Any publicity that puts the spotlight on our campaigning work with
children’s NGOs such as the NSPCC, Save the Children and the
organisation that I have worked closely with, the European
Children’s Alliance, is welcome if it delivers results for the 1000s
of missing children. We don’t just want to talk about the
problem, we are focused on action and this Written Declaration must
ensure that Member States across Europe take action.”
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