Korea Forest Service Discusses Promotion of Legal Timber Trade at APEC Senior Officials' Meeting

The Korea Forest Service announced on July 29 that it will hold the "28th APEC Experts Group on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade (EGILAT)" meeting at Songdo Convensia in Incheon from July 29 to 30, to discuss ways to promote the trade of legally harvested timber.

Namsonghee, International Forest Cooperation Officer of the Korea Forest Service, is delivering the opening remarks at the 28th APEC Expert Group Meeting on Illegal Logging and Associated Trade on the 29th. Provided by the Korea Forest Service

More than 80 participants, including government representatives from member economies and experts from international organizations, will attend the meeting. During the event, attendees will explore policy directions to facilitate the trade of legally harvested timber.

In particular, the meeting will focus on sharing cases of institutional and policy implementation by member economies, discussing future activity plans, exploring strategies for cooperation with international organizations, and strengthening capacities to respond to illegal logging.

Legally harvested timber refers to wood produced from areas with authorized logging permits or wood certified by international organizations such as FSC or PEFC. Illegal logging refers to unauthorized logging conducted without government approval.

EGILAT is an expert group under APEC, established in 2011 to eradicate illegal logging and promote the production and trade of legally harvested timber within the APEC region.

As the host economy of APEC this year, Korea organized the "27th meeting" in Gyeongju in February and is hosting the "28th meeting" this month.

Nam Songhee, Director General for International Forest Cooperation at the Korea Forest Service, stated, "We will strengthen global forest cooperation so that sustainable forest management and conservation policies implemented domestically can be expanded to create a sustainable future for forests worldwide."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.