Senate Passed Bill Bans Illegally Harvested Wood

Washington, DC, December 17, 2007--The Senate passed ground-breaking legislation to stop the import of illegally logged timber and wood products as part of the Farm Bill.

Currently, the U.S. government has no authority to take enforcement action against the import of illegally logged wood products, including hardwood flooring. Since early 2007, the U.S. Congress has moved to take action to stop the impact of U.S. demand on illegal logging around the world.

In July, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced the Combat Illegal Logging Act.

"EIA would like to commend Senator Wyden for his leadership in combating illegal logging," said Alexander von Bismarck, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency.

In March, Congressmen Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jerry Weller (R-IL), and Robert Wexler (D-FL) introduced the bipartisan Legal Timber Protection Act, which was unanimously passed by the House Committee on Natural Resources last month and awaits approval by the full House of Representatives.

EIA has been working with a broad coalition of environmental, labor, and industry groups, including the American Forest & Paper Association and the Hardwood Federation, to find innovative solutions to the global problem of illegal logging.

In a report published in November called "No Questions Asked," EIA estimated that approximately 10% of U.S. wood product annual imports, or $3.8 billion dollars, are derived from illegally logged timber. It also found that despite an express ban on Indonesian sawn timber exports, 1,570 such shipments entered the U.S. over a two year span ending November 2006 -- equal to more than two shipments per day.