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Logs export ban from Ukraine

11.11.2015

Logs export ban from Ukraine

In November 2015 the logs export ban introduced by the Ukrainian Law Nr. 325-VIII (09.04.2015) is entered into force.

Despite the negotiation efforts of the EU Commission and the European Commissioner for Trade Mrs Malmström, the law temporarily prohibits (10 years) the exportation outside the customs territory of Ukraine of untreated wood from all tree species (customs classification code 4403), except pine - from November 1, 2015, including pine - from January 1, 2017.

In parallel, the European Parliament has publish a Study on the Ukraine economic development. This document gives an overview concerning the following points:

Internal political and military situation
Reform agendas
The EU's financial assistance to Ukraine
Economic outlook
Overall situation
Economic forecast
Evolution of Ukraine´s bilateral trade with the EU
The implementation of the DCFTA (Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area) and talks with the Russian Federation
Trade concerns and policy options

Concerning the logs export ban from Ukraine the study reports that “To promote the Ukrainian processing industry, the Verkhovna Rada narrowly approved, on 9 April 2015, a series of export restrictions on wood which appears harmful to the EU industry. The law was promulgated by President Poroshenko on 10 July 2015. It provides for:

a moratorium (ban) on exports of raw round wood (excluding pine wood) for 10 years as of 1 November 2015;
a moratorium on exports of raw round pine wood for 10 years, to be applied from 1 January 2017;
the obligation for Ukrainian exporters (other than for those covered by the above moratorium) to obtain certificates of origin for round wood and sawn timber, to be issued by the relevant forest districts, in order to be able to export outside Ukraine (applied from 10 October 2015).

Among the major importers of Ukrainian softwood in the EU are Romania, Slovakia, Poland and Austria. According to Eurostat, these four countries imported last year nearly 1.4 million cubic metres of round wood from Ukraine”.

Copy of the EU Parliament study: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/549072/EXPO_IDA(2015)549072_EN.pdf