21 August 2016: Senior officials and technical experts from 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies discussed policy measures to address illegal logging, fishing, land development and mining at APEC’s Third Senior Officials Meeting (SOM). Participants called for increased cooperation to ensure environmental sustainability and agreed on a timber legality guidance template.

The Third APEC SOM is taking place in Lima, Peru, from 15-28 August. It is focusing on new policies for improving living standards and productivity and addressing inequality and sustainability challenges across the Asia-Pacific region.

“Illegal extractive industries are growing, which is a serious concern,” observed the Chair of APEC’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Working Group, Pablo Sanchez, who also serves as Attorney General of Peru. He explained that the cross-border dynamic of natural resource exploitation requires increased APEC cooperation to stem corruption. Other participants underscored the negative impact of illegal economies on environmental sustainability and livelihoods. Within this context, participants highlighted opportunities for preventive actions in APEC, such as supply chain tracking mechanisms, improvements in enforcement and investigative capacity and licensing and procurement reforms.

The timber legality guidance template provides APEC member economies with guidance on compiling information for governments and businesses on timber legality laws and regulations with the aim of supporting legal timber trade among members. The template includes sections on, inter alia: forest ownership; bodies or institutions responsible for managing and regulating forests; details on laws regulating harvesting and export; licenses, permits and certification schemes; and timber inputs in manufactured products. The template “will help to harmonize governance conditions in the region,” explained Chair of the APEC Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (EGILAT), Ruth Turia, from Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Forest Authority.

Participants presented opportunities for improving forest monitoring, control, legality and good governance at a workshop, ‘Strengthening Forest Control Systems and Market Chains in APEC Economies,’ which the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) organized during the SOM. The workshop highlighted approaches developed and tested in ITTO projects, including: the use of information technologies in developing national forest information systems in Guatemala and Ecuador; the application of DNA fingerprinting and stable isotopes to assist timber traders in tracking timber and identifying tree species, which can contribute to timber legality; and the development of information exchange platforms on market requirements and timber legality in China. ITTO organized the workshop in cooperation with APEC and the Peruvian Forest Service (SERFOR). [APEC Press Release on Environmental Crime] [APEC Press Release on SOM] [EGILAT Website] [ITTO Press Release]