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Pursuant to Part 1 of article 50.2 of the Forest Code of the Russian
Federation, the wood of valuable forest species (oak, beech,
ash) is subject to mandatory labelling by those engaged in its
export from the Russian Federation. In addition, the Forest
Code establishes the procedure for enumeration of tags, the
requirements for their mounting, manufacturing and capabilities
for scanning the information. The establishment of mandatory
requirement for labelling of oak, beech and ash will allow to
tighten the control of the foreign trade in valuable timber.
Article 50.4 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation,
which entered into force on 1 July 2014, requires the presence
of accompanying documentation for each shipment of
transported timber other than quantities harvested by
individuals for their own needs. It is estimated that individuals
have declared up to 6 per cent of mercantile timber as being
for their own needs.
In 2012, the Russian Government included timber in the list of
strategic goods to be accounted for when moving across the
border.
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During that year the Siberian customs office initiated
63 criminal cases, including 53 involving the smuggling of logs
and timber products that were valued at half a billion rubles
(US$ 15.1 million).
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The Uniform State Automated Information System (EGAIS) for
the accounting of timber was launched on January 1, 2015.
The system is supposed to provide information on i) the
actual volume of harvested timber and its labelling (including
the individual labelling of oak, beech and ash products for
export); ii) companies and individuals, who have made timber
transactions; and iii) declarations of such transactions etc.
Parties on both sides of transactions involving timber are
required to provide information to the EGAIS from 1 July, 2015.
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As of 1 July, 2015, all legal entities and entrepreneurs dealing
in wood, are required to submit an online declaration of all
transactions in the form of an electronic document with an
electronic signature to
Rosleshoz
, the operator of EGAIS. The
form of the document and the procedure are set out by the
resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation of
06.01.2015 № 11. Failure to submit, late submission or the
provision of deliberately false information entails, as of 1
January 2016, an administrative fine. For officials the fine
is between 5,000 and 20,000 rubles; for persons engaged
in entrepreneurial activities without forming a legal entity,
between 7,000 and 25,000 rubles; and for legal entities,
between 100,000 and 200,000 rubles.
In addition to these state measures, a number of national and
international environmental organizations like WWF Russia
and Greenpeace have been working to stop illegal logging in
Russia. However, illegal logging still poses significant threat to
forests and their biodiversity.