To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they support proposals for European Union legislation penalising imports of illegally produced tropical timber. [HL189]

The UK supports legislation to restrict the flow of illegal timber on the EU market—the due diligence regulation—and continues to discuss it with EU partners in arguing that it should be strengthened by including a prohibition on the first placing of any illegal timber on the market in the EU. We are working to secure agreement at Agriculture Council in December, so that the proposal can be moved quickly to the European Parliament.

We want strong legislation that will be effective in the fight against illegal logging and its associated trade.

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that all purchases of imported timber by public sector bodies are derived from sustainable sources. [HL190]

On 1 April, the UK Government's policy to procure timber and timber-derived products from independently verified legal and sustainable sources, or those licensed under a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) agreement, was made mandatory for central government departments. We have also actively encouraged local authorities to adopt the UK timber procurement policy voluntarily. We are working closely with the UK Timber Trade Federation and WWF and are seeing that the policy is having positive repercussions throughout UK timber supply chains.

The UK Government are committed to better reporting on their timber purchases and in July Defra published a study looking at this aspect. The report is available on the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) website.