ILLEGAL LOGGING

That this House notes the problem of illegal logging, which is valued at 10 to 15 billion euro per year and costs producer countries billions in lost revenue, causes huge losses of biodiversity and widespread environmental damage; notes that research by WWF has estimated that the EU is responsible for at least three billion euro of this, with the UK being one of the largest importers of illegal timber within the EU; further notes that the problem of illegal imports entering the EU via third countries such as China is not prevented by the current EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Action Plan; and calls on the Government to support moves to introduce legislation making it an offence to import, sell and distribute illegal timber in the UK and EU.