Forests at Your Service - World Environment Day - Customs initiative
IN connection with the World Environment Day 2011 with the theme “Forests at your Service”, the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization, Kunio Mikuriya, calls upon Customs and timber trade regulating agencies to intensify their efforts to improve controls over the trade in international timber.
“The world's forests are under severe pressure from indiscriminate logging and the illegal trade in timber products. These questionable practices cause widespread environmental damage, cost governments billions of US dollars in lost revenue, enable corruption to flourish, and undermine the rule of law and good governance”, he said.
Customs are on the frontline at international borders and play an invaluable role in ensuring that timber shipments moving in the global trading system comply with national laws and international environmental undertakings such as the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Violations of Customs law can include export and import of banned tree species, timber traded in contravention of national bans, cross-border movements without a licence or other necessary documents, use of fraudulent documents, underestimation of volumes and tonnage, and misclassification of wood products and species.
The WCO strongly urges its 177 Members to report all illegal seizures to the Customs Enforcement network (CEN) and make greater use of the WCO ENVIRONET system for the rapid exchange and dissemination of information relating to the illegal trade in timber.