美國林務局經濟學家Jeff Prestemon的新研究顯示，由於完成相關修法，使得美國從南非和亞洲進口的非法木材，明顯比6年前要少。
反走私法納木材 從源頭抵制非法伐木
Prestemon針對2008年雷斯法案（野生生物與反走私法）修正案的效果進行研究，發現修正案生效後，從涉非法伐木國家出口到美國的木材和硬木膠合板價格升高、數量減少，顯示貿易量正在下滑。
雷斯野生動物與反走私法訂定於1900年，後來保護對象納入了植物，包括樹木和木材。Prestemon蒐集了1989至2013年間每個月的進口量，以評估2008年修正案的效果。「研究結果顯示，修正案的確發揮了效果。」Prestemon說。
2008年修正案為了限制非法木材的需求，率先將在任何來源國非法取得的任何樹種，以及任何含有非法取得材料的木產品，包括木頭、紙、紙漿等，納入限制對象。根據雷斯法案，出口非法取得木材、動物或製品進入美國，或在美國州際運輸皆屬違法。
非法木材影響國際市價 貿易管制不可少
Prestemon指出，「非法木材取得對森林、人民、野生動物造成負面影響，涉嫌大量非法取得木材的國家執法鬆散，引起全球各界的關注和憂心。」
美國較少從非法木材風險高的國家進口木材，但全球市場上的非法木材影響國際木價，並影響美國的木材製造商。
Prestemon表示，「美國和其他國家的合法木材和木材產品製造商皆擔憂非法木材影響國內和國際市價和市佔率。」不過Prestemon也說，要斷定2008年修正案是否真的有助減少非法木材來源，仍需要進一步研究。「第一步也是最重要的一步，是瞭解非法木材供應商是否把貨轉去其他貿易管制鬆散的國家。第二步是檢視非法木材供應商是否只出口合法木材，同時繼續生產非法木材留在國內販賣。」
The amount of illegally harvested wood from South America and Asia available for export to the United States is smaller today than it was six years ago due to a change in U.S. law, finds new research by U.S. Forest Service economist Jeff Prestemon.
In a study on the effect of a 2008 amendment to the Lacey Act, a U.S. wildlife protection and anti-trafficking law, Prestemon found that the prices of lumber and hardwood plywood imports into the United States from suspected illegal wood fiber source countries have increased and their quantities have decreased since the enactment of the 2008 Lacey Act Amendment, indicating a decrease in export supply in these countries.
Prestemon used monthly import data from 1989 to 2013 to evaluate the effects of the 2008 amendment.
“These findings are evidence that the amendment has met at least some of its advocates’ objectives,” said Prestemon.
The original Lacey Act of 1900 focused on wildlife, with later amendments expanding to plants, including trees and wood products. The Lacey Act Amendment of 2008 was enacted to cut the global demand for illegally obtained timber products, and includes for the first time any tree species illegally obtained in the country of origin and any product, such as wood, paper, or pulp, containing illegally obtained material.
“There has been growing distress around the world about the negative effects of illegal fiber sourcing, including logging, on forests, people, wildlife, and the rule of law in countries suspected of producing such wood in large quantities,” says Prestemon.
The U.S. consumes a small share of wood from countries with high rates of illegal timber, but having illegal wood on global markets depresses wood prices globally and that affects U.S. producers, says Prestemon.
“In the U.S. and elsewhere, timber growers and wood product manufacturers have been concerned about the effects of illegal logging on their market prices and market shares, in both domestic and foreign markets,” he said.
The Lacey Act makes it a crime to import onto U.S. territory or to transport across state lines any illegally obtained plant or animal species or product made with them.
Prestemon says more study is needed before we can judge the 2008 amendment as a complete success in reducing illegal wood sourcing.
“First and foremost we need to understand to what extent illegal producers have diverted their illegally sourced fiber exports away from the U.S. and toward countries that don’t have such trade measures,” said Prestemon.
“Second, we need to look at possible substitutions within countries suspected of illegal sourcing, where producers decide to only export legal fiber but still illegally produce, diverting those products toward domestic consumers in their own markets,” he said.
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