EUDR deforestation regulation is bureaucracy without added value; No positive effect on rainforests due to strain on the local economy; EU Commission fails due to its own regulations
Vienna (OTS) – Austria’s wood industry reacts with surprise to the statements made by Thomas Waitz MEP on the implementation of the EU Deforestation Regulation, EUDR. Thomas Waitz recommends a rapid implementation of the EUDR in a broadcast, as this would supposedly strengthen the domestic timber industry. Mag. Herbert Jöbstl, chairman of the Austrian Wood Industry Association, explains: “An experienced politician like Thomas Waitz is apparently not aware that the EUDR is not limited to wood imports and foreign companies, but also applies to wood harvesting, production and trade within the EU. In the future, the Austrian forestry and wood industry should provide evidence at every (!) processing step that no deforestation is taking place, even though the forests in Austria have been legally protected for decades.
The entire wood value chain incurs significantly higher costs due to additional bureaucracy. Costs that neither affect competitors on the global market nor manufacturers of CO2 and energy-intensive products. The small and medium-sized companies in the forestry and wood industry that are typical in Austria do not have the personnel capacity for this additional burden.”
No positive effect on rainforests due to strain on the local economy
Thomas Waitz also suggests that Profit interests of the sawmill industry and large companies in Austria are related to forest damage on other continents. The chairman of the Austrian wood industry firmly rejects this accusation.It is irresponsible and populist to equate the problems in the rainforests with the domestic timber industry. Citizens are being misinformed here. No amount of EUDR bureaucratic effort by domestic forestry and timber companies will have a positive effect on the forests of other continents
“, emphasizes Jöbstl and emphasizes: “Our companies source their wood primarily from Austria and neighboring regions in neighboring countries. Deforestation is demonstrably not an issue in Europe and Austria. Strict forestry laws and responsible forest owners ensure that our forests have been growing and developed in a climate-friendly manner for decades. The fundamental problem with the EUDR is that it does not add any value in terms of bureaucracy.”
Important questions regarding the implementation of the EUDR unclear
From the perspective of the forestry and timber industry, there are still significant technical implementation questions open, although statements and inquiries have been submitted to the EU legislators for three years. Companies are currently unable to implement the EUDR in a legally secure manner. The EU Commission is not in a position to design its own legal act completely and in a practical manner, such as the risk assessment of individual states. The EU Commission has not answered questions about technical implementation for a long time. The timber industry is therefore calling for the implementation of the EUDR to be postponed by at least 12 months. The time must be used to set up the EUDR in a new and practical way and to take the supply chain processes and operational practice into account.
Dialogue for practical implementation
What is now important is the exchange between politics and the industry in order to achieve a practical design. “We invite Mr. Waitz to one of our member companies to inform him about how climate protection and business can be linked together instead of being played off against each other
“, says Jöbstl in conclusion.
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Norman Schirmer
PR & Public Affairs
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