6 March 2014, EU FLEGT Facility news - Government officials, business leaders and members of civil society from China and Russia met at a workshop in February to discuss timber legality and the cross-border trade between China and the Russian Far East.

The workshop, 'Promoting legal and sustainable China–Russia timber trade', was held on 20 and 21 February in Suifenhe City, the largest overland trading post between China and the Russian Far East.

Russia is China's largest supplier of logs and second largest supplier of sawn timber. In 2012, China imported 11.18 million m3 of logs and 6.21 million m3 of sawn timber from Russia.

Workshop participants explored how China can ensure that the timber it sources from the Russian Far East meets the timber legality requirements of China's export markets such as the EU, United States and Japan. They also discussed initiatives to combat illegal logging and challenges associated with timber trade and the legal sourcing of timber and timber products.

The participants looked for opportunities for the two countries to work together on cross-border forest law enforcement and a business code of conduct. The workshop organisers will share the policy recommendations and meeting summary with Chinese and Russian government agencies for forestry, trade and customs to facilitate another bilateral dialogue on illegal logging and its associated trade.

The Research Institute of Forestry Policy and Information of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, the Center for International Forest Products Trade of the State Forestry Administration of China, Forest Trends, WWF and the EU FLEGT Facility organised the workshop.

Source: http://www.euflegt.efi.int/home