Agent Green, Declic, Greenpeace: the “Monopoly for Schweighofer” amendment returns to Romania’s Parliament

The Chamber of Deputies’ Agriculture Committee is debating on Monday, 29 June, [1] the removal of the Forest Code provision requiring any wood-processing company in Romania to process no more than 30% of a particular tree species. This provision will clearly favour large companies such as Schweighofer, Kronospan, Kastamonu and Egger.

“The black market for stolen timber will grow. HS Timber, formerly Schweighofer, could once again buy almost everything legally put up for auction. This would force the remaining domestic processors and those who need firewood to buy on the black market”, said Roxana Pencea Brădățan, Declic campaign coordinator.

The anti-monopoly provision was adopted in 2015. At the time, Declic, Greenpeace, Agent Green and 24 other organisations mobilised to ask deputies to adopt the law and reject the revision proposed by President Iohannis. Protests were organised in Bucharest, Cluj and many other places in Romania and the diaspora.

“If Schweighofer operates at full capacity and uses only Romanian timber, as it did until 2014, then not a single conifer remains for domestic industry and households. This company, which adds no value to the wood, creates pressure that Romania’s forests can no longer bear”, added Gabriel Păun, president of Agent Green.
The need for this change arose because three large multinational companies – Holzindustrie Schweighofer, Kronospan and Egger – dominated the Romanian market for buying timber [2]. In these circumstances, domestic producers and those dependent on firewood for heating were disadvantaged when making purchases.

Also on Monday, the Agriculture Committee will discuss changing the definition of timber. The Forest Code’s current definition does not include wood chips, sawdust, briquettes, glued timber, various veneers, particleboard, slabs and other residues. They are therefore not tracked through the SUMAL timber-traceability system, helping conceal illegal logging.
In May, the Senate voted for this Forest Code amendment and completed the definition of timber [3]. The legislative initiative is based on a Declic investigation [4] into the inadequate legal framework. At present, the types of wood not properly defined can be traded and transported like any other goods. Many illegal logging operations occur precisely because illegally felled trees can be sold as pellets, boards or chips without passing through the authorities’ checks.

However, the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making chamber, has the final say on the definition of timber. For this very reason, during the debate the Declic community will hand members of the Agriculture Committee the 48,700 signatures on the petition “A law for forests, not for thieves” [5].

“Defining timber precisely would spoil the timber mafia’s plans, so older provisions are now being taken out of the drawer, such as the 30% limit, which would nevertheless help them cut and market illegally felled forests,” added Declic representative Roxana Pencea Brădățan.
“Removing the 30% market limit for wood processing in Romania is a step back in time, to before 2015, when international demand for raw timber built criminal networks exploiting forests.
In 2020, we do not need to stimulate sawn-timber production; we need programmes encouraging wood processing that adds value. The furniture industry and small construction entrepreneurs need attention, not international sawn-timber sellers. We are under assault from climate change; we must store carbon and water in the soil. Citizens want green homes in which wood is used for at least 20 years, not to fuel the rush for resources by buying furniture that breaks after 3 years. In short: stop cutting forests to export planks!” – Ciprian Gălușcă, Greenpeace Romania.

Notes:
[1] PLx. 356/2020 amending and supplementing Law no. 46/2008 – the Forest Code
[2] Moreover, footage from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) showed that representatives of Holzindustrie Schweighofer Romania would knowingly accept and reward, through a bonus system, timber illegally felled in Romania’s forests.
[3] Plx 261/2020 amending and supplementing Law no. 46/2008 – the Forest Code
[4] Declic investigation https://hotii-de-lemn.mystrikingly.com/
[5] The petition can be consulted here for the debate: https://facem.declic.ro/campaigns/lege-pentru-padure-nu-pentru-hoti

Contact persons:
Gabriel Paun, Agent Green, office@agentgreen.org
Roxana Pencea Brădățan, Declic, roxana@declic.ro
Ciprian Gălușcă, Greenpeace, cgalusca@greenpeace.org