Brussels avoids crackdown on illegal timber

After a series of delays, the European Commission unveiled on Friday (17 October) a legislative proposal to tackle the scourge of illegal logging.

However, the EU executive has acceded to demands from some sectors of the timber trade that it police itself.

Instead of requiring that traders halt timber imports to the EU from illegal sources, the commission's proposal only demands that they "seek sufficient guarantees" that no laws are being broken when the wood is harvested.

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