Economic instruments for sustainably produced timber

At the request of the Dutch Environment ministry (VROM), CE Delft has reviewed several economic policy instruments for increasing the share of sustainably produced timber in products marketed in the Netherlands. The brief was to elaborate a tax measure, a form of private "greening" and creation of a fund, with the timber procurement criteria laid down by national government serving as criteria for sustainably produced timber. The ministry wanted the various policies as well as the criteria held up against national legislation, EU regulations and WTO accords to assess their legal status. To the extent that the instruments or criteria failed this test, the ministry requested they be revised to bring them into conformity. The final element of the brief was to analyse the economic impacts of the policies in question. 

In this study only the three economic policy instruments cited were reviewed, with no investigation of alternative options like mandatory obligations, outright bans and/or public education by means of information campaigns.