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Make
it illegal in the United Kingdom for a person or company to import,
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export, transport, sell, receive,
acquire or purchase timber or timber products |
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illegally taken, harvested,
possessed, transported, sold or exported from their |
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country of origin; and for
connected purposes. |
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Be
it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty,
by and with the advice and |
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consent of the Lords Spiritual
and Temporal, and Commons, in this present |
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Parliament assembled, and
by the authority of the same, as follows:— |
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“applicable legislation”
means the legislation in force in the country of |
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harvest covering the following
areas of law— |
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(a) |
the conservation of
biological diversity; |
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(b) |
forest management and
resource use rights; |
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(c) |
environmental protection
including environmental impact |
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(d) |
rights to harvest timber
within gazetted boundaries; |
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(e) |
payments for harvest
rights and timber including duties related |
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(f) |
timber harvesting including
directly related environmental and |
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(h) |
the rights of indigenous
peoples; |
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(i) |
third parties’
legal rights concerning use and tenure that is |
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affected by timber harvesting; |
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(j) |
labour and community
welfare legislation; |
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(k) |
taxes, import and export
duties, royalties and fees related to |
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harvesting, transportation
and marketing; and |
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(l) |
trade and customs legislation,
in so far as the forest sector is |
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“distributor”
means any person who, for professional and commercial |
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purposes, irrespective of
the selling technique used— |
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(a) |
manufactures
and sells wood; |
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(b) |
sells wood manufactured
by another person; or |
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(c) |
imports or exports wood
into the United Kingdom; |
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“illegally”
means, in relation to wood which has been harvested, in |
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contravention of the applicable
legislation; |
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“importer”
means any person established within the United Kingdom |
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who is responsible for the
physical introduction for commercial |
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purposes of wood or wood
products into the United Kingdom; |
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“person” includes
any individual or organisation of any kind subject to |
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any jurisdiction in the United
Kingdom; |
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“wood” means
the timber and timber products set out as at 1 January 2011 |
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in the Combined Nomenclature
set out in Annex 1 to Council |
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Regulation (EEC) No 2658/87
on the tariff and statistical nomenclature |
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and on the Common Customs
Tariff. |
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(1) |
A distributor or importer
who sells, keeps for sale, or offers for sale any wood |
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(a) |
harvested, sold, taken or
possessed illegally in the country from which |
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the wood was originally harvested;
or |
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(b) |
exported illegally from a
country from which it was originally |
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(c) |
imported illegally into a
country through which it passed or was |
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shall
be guilty of an offence. |
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(2) |
A person (“P”)
shall not be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) if P proves
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to the satisfaction of the
court— |
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(a) |
that at the time the alleged
offence was committed P had no reason to |
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believe that the wood had
been harvested, sold, taken, possessed, |
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exported or imported illegally;
and |
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(b) |
that at the time when the
wood first came into his or her possession or |
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control P made such enquiries
as in the circumstances were reasonable |
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in order to ascertain whether
it had been harvested, sold, taken, |
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possessed, exported or imported
illegally. |
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(3) |
Without prejudice to the
generality of subsection (2), P shall be taken to have |
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made such enquiries as are
mentioned there if P provides to the court a |
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statement by the person from
whom P obtained possession or control of the |
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wood (“the supplier”),
which is signed by the supplier or by a person |
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authorised by him or her,
and which states that— |
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(a) |
the supplier made enquiries
at the time the wood came into his or her |
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possession in order to ascertain
whether it was wood which had been |
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harvested, sold, taken, possessed,
exported or imported illegally; and |
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(b) |
the supplier had no reason
to believe at the time he or she relinquished |
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possession of the wood to
P that the article was at that time wood which |
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had been harvested, sold,
taken, possessed, exported or imported |
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(4) |
A person who provides, for
the purposes of subsection (3), a statement which |
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he or she knows to be false
in a material particular, or recklessly provides for |
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those purposes a certificate
which is false in a material particular, shall be |
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(5) |
A
person who buys any wood that has been— |
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(a) |
harvested, sold, taken or
possessed illegally in the country from which |
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the wood was originally harvested;
or |
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(b) |
exported illegally from a
country from which it was originally |
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(c) |
imported illegally into a
country through which it passed or was |
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and
who at the time of purchase was aware that the wood was harvested,
sold, |
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taken, possessed, exported
or imported illegally shall be guilty of an offence. |
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Penalties,
forfeiture, etc |
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(1) |
A distributor or importer
guilty of an offence under— |
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(a) |
section 2(1) shall be liable
on conviction on indictment to imprisonment |
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for a term not exceeding 5
years or a fine not exceeding £200,000, or |
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(b) |
section 2(4) shall be liable
on conviction on indictment to imprisonment |
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for a term not exceeding 1
year or a fine not exceeding £10,000, or both. |
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(2) |
The maximum fine which may
be imposed under subsection (1) shall be |
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determined as if the person
convicted had been convicted of an offence in |
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respect of each consignment
of wood or wood products. |
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(3) |
The Secretary of State may,
by order, increase the penalties specified in |
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(4) |
The court by which any distributor
or importer is convicted of an offence under |
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section 2 shall order the
forfeiture of any wood or wood product in respect of |
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which the offence was committed. |
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(5) |
A person found guilty of
an offence under section 2(5) shall be liable on |
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summary conviction to a fine
not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale. |
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(1) |
The Secretary of State may
by regulations make such supplementary provision |
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as appears appropriate in
consequence of, or otherwise in connection with, this |
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(2) |
Regulations and orders under
this Act shall be made by statutory instrument. |
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(3) |
No order under section 3(3)
may be made unless a draft of the order has been |
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laid before, and approved
by a resolution of, each House of Parliament. |
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(4) |
Regulations under subsection
(1) are subject to annulment in pursuance of a |
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resolution of either House
of Parliament. |
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5 |
Short
title, commencement and extent |
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(1) |
This Act may be cited as
the Illegally Logged Timber (Prohibition of Import, |
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Sale or Distribution) Act
2011. |
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(2) |
This Act comes into force
at the end of the period of 2 months beginning with |
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the day on which it is passed.
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(3) |
This Act extends to England
and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. |
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