Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1387 of 9 June 2016 amending Annexes I and III to Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 following a Voluntary Partnership Agreement with Indonesia for a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Union

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 of 20 December 2005 on the establishment of a FLEGT licensing scheme for imports of timber into the European Community⁽¹⁾, and in particular Article 10(1) and (3) thereof,

Whereas:

1. A Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the Union and the Republic of Indonesia (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Agreement’) was ratified by the Parties and entered into force on 1 May 2014.

2. Article 14(5)(e) of the Agreement provides that the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) set up by that Agreement is to agree on the date from which the FLEGT licensing scheme will start operating after an evaluation of the functioning of the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System (TLAS) on the basis of the criteria set out in Annex VIII to that Agreement.

3. A joint independent assessment of the Indonesian TLAS has concluded that the Indonesian TLAS is a robust system and that the system meets the criteria to assess its operationality established in Annex VIII to the Agreement.

4. The two Parties are now in a position to make a decision on the start date of the FLEGT licensing scheme for Indonesia.

5. With a view to start the FLEGT licensing scheme for Indonesia, Annexes I and III to Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 need first to be amended so as to include the Republic of Indonesia and its Licensing Information Unit under the list of ‘Partner countries and their designated licensing authorities’ contained in Annex I, and the list of products covered by the FLEGT licensing scheme in Annex III ‘Timber products to which the FLEGT licensing scheme applies only in relation to the corresponding partner countries’.

6. Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005 should therefore be amended accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: