9 / 72
9
RECOMMENDATIONS
Strengthen and consider funding opportunities for the de-
velopment of a full-fledged Law Enforcement Assistance to
Forests (LEAF) programme under INTERPOL and UNEP
in close collaboration with all ICCWC partners, REDD+,
FLEGT and other relevant programmes and agencies. The
objective of the programme is undertaking coordinated in-
ternational and improved national law enforcement and in-
vestigative efforts to reduce illegal logging, the international
trade in illegally felled timber and forest-related corruption
including tax fraud and laundering.
Increase national investigative and operational national
capacities through an INTERPOL based training scheme
to strengthen and build national task forces on combating
illegal logging and laundering. This includes strengthen-
ing national law enforcement agency cooperation and co-
ordination through supporting the formation of national
taskforces to ensure enforcement of laws and regulations
related to forests.
Centralize nationally the issuing of permits for land clearance
whether for logging, plantations or ranching and permits for
road transport of timber with strong anti-counterfeit measures.
Develop an INTERPOL classification system of geographic
regions within countries according to the suspected degree
1)
2)
3)
4)
of illegality in collaboration with National Central Bureaus
(NCBs) and other relevant stakeholders. This includes de-
fining upper limits of volumes of logs to be transported,
restricting transport funnels of all timber from such il-
legal logging regions and monitoring forest change on a
regional basis.
Encourage national tax fraud investigations with a partic-
ular focus on plantations and mills laundering, under- or
over-reporting of volumes and over- or under-invoicing, tax
fraud and mis-use of government subsidies.
Reduce investment attractiveness in forests enterprises ac-
tive in regions identified as areas of illegal logging by im-
plementing an international INTERPOL-based rating sys-
tem of companies extracting, operating in or buying from
regions with a high degree of illegal activity. This includes
investigating possible complicity of investors in funding il-
legal activities related to logging, transporting, laundering
or purchasing illegally logged timber.
Strengthen the resources available to ICCWC to have a
dedicated role, unit(s) and responsibility at global and re-
gional levels, as appropriate, specifically tasked to combat
illegal logging and international trade in illegally logged or
procured timber and wood products.
5)
6)
7)