19 April 2012
United States conservatives are trying to get the US Congress to remove the ban on the import of illegally logged lumber under the Lacey Act. They say it is unfair for US wood processors to be prosecuted for unknowingly using wood from illegally logged forests. But a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists says the law should be left alone and Congress should provide enough money to enforce it. The Lacey Act curbs deforestation and boosts the competitiveness of the nation’s logging and wood processing industries, says the report.“Congress can sustain the US wood industry, reduce destructive logging practices, and help Americans make sustainable consumer choices by supporting and funding implementation of the Lacey Act,” the report says.
The Lacey Act was first passed in 1900 to ban the transport of poached game across state lines. It was amended in 2008 to bar importing wood that is illegally exported under another country’s laws.
The crunch point for these amendments has been raids by federal agents on the Gibson Guitar factory in Nashville, Tennessee, for allegedly importing wood materials that violate the Lacey Act. Gibson chief executive Henry Juszkiewicz and conservatives on Capitol Hill say the raids are an example of government overreach and criticised the Lacey Act’s requirement that American companies comply with other countries’ environmental laws.
“Presuming that Americans will understand what a foreign law is — that isn’t just a fiction, it’s a fantasy,” said Paul Larkin, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “It is grossly unfair to criminally prosecute someone for not knowing what a foreign law is.”
Congressional records show Gibson spent $80,000 last year to lobby House and Senate lawmakers on the Lacey Act.
A bill introduced last fall by Democratic Rep. Jim Cooper of Nashville and Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn of Brentwood would eliminate penalties for people who “unknowingly” possess illegal woods.
Last month, Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., introduced legislation to repeal the requirement that U.S. companies comply with foreign environmental laws. Their bill would lower the maximum penalties for Lacey Act violations.
The Blackburn/Cooper legislation could allow businesses to avoid penalties too easily by claiming they didn’t know they were violating a foreign law, said Pipa Elias, the Union of Concerned Scientists consultant who wrote the report.
She said the Broun/Paul bill would still allow illegally traded wood — which is cheap and often taken from over-forested or protected land — to make its way into the U.S. market.
“You really need to affect the incentives for illegal logging in order to reduce it, and the incentive is that people are going to buy that product,” she said. “So anything that would ultimately ... continue to allow people to buy an illegal product wouldn’t really create that market change that the research has shown can be effective.”
The World Bank estimates illegal logging costs governments and businesses at least $10 billion in lost revenue each year, and other studies have shown it depresses wood prices by about 16 percent, according to the report.
Elias said removing penalties for companies that illegally import foreign wood would hurt domestic loggers and processors, who must obey U.S. laws. That’s why a number of large companies and groups — such as Staples and the American Forest and Paper Association — support policies such as the Lacey Act that reduce the threat that illegal wood products pose to the U.S. market, she said.
She said it’s becoming easier for companies to ensure that imported wood is legal. For example, many companies now purchase wood that has been certified as sustainable, she said. “I think it’s reasonable to ask where things are coming from,” she said. “I don’t think it’s an impossible feat.”
Source: The Tennessean