The European Pallet Association (EPAL) has announced that violating the ban on the use of illegally harvested timber will be severely punished. This means that even the first violations should result in license revocation.
This is stated in the letter sent to EPAL licensees in Ukraine
“...we, unfortunately, have repeatedly received information from third parties that illegally felled wood is used for the production of EPAL Euro pallets in Ukraine. On the one hand, the suspicion is based on discrepancies between the prices of the proposed EPAL pallets and the prices of wood at official auctions in Ukraine. On the other hand, there is a disproportion between the volume of purchases of officially and legally cut timber and the total volume of sales of timber and wood products, which was pointed out to us in a separate specific case,” notes EPAL Director General Bernd Dorre.
Perhaps we are talking about a journalistic investigation into the production of EPAL Euro pallets from illegal wood by the Agrotechnical Center, owned by Pavel Semenyuk (deputy of the Kovel City Council).
“EPAL is currently still investigating this matter. In the future, EPAL will conduct independent investigations into proposed prices, as well as purchase and sales volumes. If a discrepancy is found, it will be assessed by EPAL as suspected illegal timber. In these cases, EPAL will require documentation of the procurement quantities. EPAL will also cooperate with the Ukrainian forestry authorities in clarifying suspicious cases,” notes Dorre.
It also points out that legally harvested wood should not only be used for EPAL Euro pallets, but for all wood products sold by the licensee, including traded timber.
“It is not enough to confirm the purchase of legally harvested wood just for the number of EPAL Euro pallets produced. This must be done for all forest products sold, including timber products sold,” EPAL emphasizes.
It should be noted that the European Pallet Manufacturers Association is responsible for organizing the EPAL Europallet exchange pool around the world and constantly monitors the reputation of those who grant licenses. Ensuring a level playing field for all EPAL licensees is one of EPAL's key objectives.
“If the level playing field is violated by the use of illegally harvested timber, the licensee should expect the license to be revoked,” Bernd Dorre emphasized in the letter.
Let us remind you that journalists found out that from May 2022 to March 2023, AGROPROMTECHTSENTR, together with Volyn Pallets LLC, Prytani LLC and Redrock LLC, exported pallets and boards abroad in terms of a total volume of lumber of 141,140 cubic meters . To produce such a volume of lumber, about 352 thousand cubic meters are needed. meters of wood. And during this period, the volume of wood officially purchased by these enterprises amounted to only 85,835 cubic meters. meters.
A number of woodworking enterprises in Volyn export pallets under one license EPAL UA-015HE, officially owned by AGROPROMTECHTSENTR. And this is prohibited by the rules of the European Pallet Association eV (EPAL). In addition, it turned out that these companies export products under the same phytosanitary code 04026 “AGROPROMTEHTSENTR”.
