Work Plan 2018-2022 for the implementation of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan.

The FLEGT implementation Work Plan is a regional policy concerning the Member States of the European Union, as well as the timber-producing partner countries. The timeframe of the policy is 5 years between 2018 and 2022. The seven action areas of this Work Plan are: a) support to timber-producing countries; b) trade in timber; c) public procurement; d) private sector initiatives; e) safeguards for financing and investment; f) use of existing legislative instruments; and g) conflict timber.
The FLEGT implementation Work Plan 2018-2022 has been developed as a contribution to reaching the overall objectives set out in the FLEGT Action Plan. To this end, this Work Plan lays down actions to tackle illegal logging and its associated trade, support improvements in governance relating to sustainable forest management and halt, prevent and reverse deforestation. Support will be given to timber-producing countries, focusing on a limited number of countries particularly in the light of prioritisation criteria, to contribute to better forest governance and legal timber trade, in order to i) promote stakeholder participation in forest policy design and implementation, ii) promote transparency of information and decision making in the forest-based sector, iii) strengthen traceability and verification systems for timber legality, iv) build capacity of government and stakeholders to implement governance reforms and v) facilitate policy and legislative reforms to improve clarity, coherence, inclusiveness and adequacy of the regulatory framework. The FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement and the FLEGT licensing scheme will be implemented for timber-producing countries that intend to facilitate timber trade flow to the EU. The implementation of EU Timber Regulation will be strengthened for reducing demand for illegal timber in the EU, both as regards timber illegally harvested in the EU and illegal timber imported from third countries. The Commission will improve the implementation of the EU Timber Regulation, in cooperation with the Member States and relevant stakeholders. The multilateral framework and international cooperation with major consumer and processing countries and other major timber suppliers to the EU market will be developed to combat illegal logging and related trade. Public and private financial institutions will be encouraged to adopt effective mechanisms to promote increased transparency and guarantee the legality and sustainability of the operations they finance in the forest-based sector and in sectors potentially linked to illegal logging. The issue of conflict timber will continue to be addressed taking into account the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of land, forests and fisheries in the Context of National Food Security.