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Proposed Amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Sustainable Use of Timbers

The Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Sustainable Use of Timbers is hereby amended as follows:

“Article 17 (3) of the Act” in the respective main sentence of Article 17 (3) and Article 17 (4) is hereby replaced with “Article 17 (4) of the Act”.

The following provisions shall be newly inserted as Articles 18-3 and 18-4, respectively:

Article 18-3 (Import Declaration)

"Timber or any timber products provided for by Presidential Decree" in Article 19-2 of the Act means Log or any of the following:

1. Sawn timber

2. Anti-decay wood

3. Fire retardant treated wood;

4. Laminated wood;

5. Plywood;

6. Wood pellets.

Article 18-4 (Import Inspection, etc.)

(1) "Inspection agency provided for by Presidential Decree" in Article 19-3 (1) of the Act means any of the following agencies:

1. Korea Forestry Promotion Institute;

2. An agency or institution designated and publicly notified by the Minister of the Korea Forest Service from among the following organizations that have the necessary personnel and organizational structures for the inspection of documents verifying that the relevant timber or timber products has been produced in compliance with the laws and regulations pertaining to timber harvesting in Korea or the country of origin (hereinafter referred to as “legal felling”):

(a) A public institution (referring to a public institution as defined in Article 4 of the Act on the Management of Public Institutions);

(b) A research institute.

(2) Article 17 (3) through (5) shall apply mutatis mutandis for the methods and procedures for issuing an order to suspend the sale, return or dispose of any timber or timber products under Article 19-3 (3) of the Act. In such cases, “hazardous timber product” in Article 17 (3) shall be deemed to be “timber or timber products not verified as being legally felled” and “producers or importers of the relevant timber products” to be “importers of the relevant timber or timber products.”

“Order for disposition, etc.” in Article 21 is hereby replaced with “order for disposition”; and “hazardous timber product” in the same Article with “hazardous timber products in Article 17 (3)”, respectively.

“Article 17 (3)” in Article 32 (2) 1 is hereby replaced with “Article 17 (3) of this Decree”;  “Article 21” in Article 32 (2) 2 with “Article 21 of this Decree”; and the following provision is newly inserted as subparagraph 1-2 to Article 32 (2)

1-2. Imposition of an order to suspend the sale, return or dispose of any timber or timber products not verified as being legally felled under Article 19-3 (3) of the Act; and issuance of an order under Article 17 (3) of this Decree applied mutatis mutandis under Article 18-4 (2) of this Decree;

Addendum

This Decree shall enter into force on October 1, 2018: Provided, That the amended provisions of Article 17 (3) and (4) shall enter into force on the date of its promulgation.