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Activity as operator for timber or timber products Notification
If you would like to import wood or wood products from countries outside the EU for the first time, you must notify the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) once.
Your responsible authority
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Forms
Forms: Declaration of activity as operator for timber or timber products
Online procedure possible: no
Written form required: yes
Personal appearance required: no
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Detailed description
If you want to place timber or timber products on the EU market for the first time since 03.03.2013 (as a so-called "operator"), you are obliged to prove that it is timber and timber products from legal logging.
This proof must be provided by compliance with certain due diligence obligations. The "due diligence regulation" includes, among other things:
- information on the type and origin of the wood,
- Facts about the supplier as well as
- Procedures to assess and reduce the risk that the timber could come from illegal logging.
This is intended to combat the trade in illegally harvested timber. The BLE checks market participants for compliance with the requirements of the Regulation according to a plan and a risk-based approach.
You must therefore report your activity as a market participant to the BLE once before accepting imports. Please note that you must also report any changes to your already displayed data to the BLE immediately.
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Requirements
none
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Documents
none
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Fees
none
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Process
You must make your notification as a market participant in writing:
- Download the notification form from the BLE website. Complete the ad completely and submit it to the BLE.
- After receiving your ad, you will receive a confirmation from the BLE about your displayed data after about one week.
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Duration
about 1 week
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Deadline
- Submitting the application: before you import the timber or timber products
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Responsible authority
Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE)
Unit 524
Deichmanns Aue 29
53179 Bonn, GermanyPhone: 0228 6845-0
Fax: 030 1810 6845-2221
E-mail: handel-mit-holz@ble.de -
Point of contact
Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE)
Unit 524
Deichmanns Aue 29
53179 Bonn, GermanyPhone: 0228 6845-0
Fax: 030 1810 6845-2221
E-mail: handel-mit-holz@ble.de -
Legal basis
- §6 paragraph 5, Act against the Trade in Illegally Harvested Timber (Holzhandels-Sicherungs-Gesetz - HolzSiG) of 11 July 2011 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1345)
- Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 on the obligations of operators placing timber and timber products on the market (European Timber Regulation EUTR, OJ L 2010, p. L 295/23) (Regulation (EU) No 995/2010)
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More information
- Information on the timber trade on the website of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food
- Information on the EU Timber Regulation on the website of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food
- Information on the FLEGT licensing scheme for timber imports from partner countries on the website of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food
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Approved
Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)
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Approved date
19.09.2019