Report the intake of imports of timber and timber products from non-EU countries

If you are importing wood or wood products from countries outside the EU for the first time, you must register this once with the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE).

When timber companies engage in illegal logging, it leads to a wide range of negative consequences at the international level. Among other things, it contributes to forest degradation and deforestation, threatens biodiversity, and undermines forestry.

If you want to import wood or wood products from countries outside the EU into the EU for the first time, you must prove that the wood and wood products are from legally harvested timber.

For this, you must comply with certain due diligence obligations. The due diligence regulation includes, among other things:

• Information on the type and origin of the wood,
• Facts about the supplier as well as
• Method for assessing and reducing the risk that the wood could originate from illegal logging.

This is intended to combat the trade in illegally harvested timber. The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) verifies that you, as an operator, comply with the requirements of the regulation.

You must therefore notify the BLE of your activity as a market participant once before commencing imports. Please note that you must also report any changes to your previously submitted data to the BLE without delay.

You must submit your market participant registration in writing by letter, email, or online:

By post and email:

• Download the notification form from the website of the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE).
• Complete the ad in full and submit it to the BLE
• Alternatively, you can log in as a guest to the online service „Register imports of wood and wood products from countries outside the EU online“, fill out the form digitally, download it, and send it.
• Upon receipt of your notification, you will receive a confirmation of your notified data from the BLE after about a week.

Online:

• Log in to the online service using your BundID or „Elster – Mein Unternehmenskonto“ access.
  • If you do not have either of the two access methods, you must register again.
• The online form takes you step by step through all the details.

You will receive a confirmation of your reported data from the BLE.

You must submit the declaration no later than one day before you import the timber or timber products.

There are no costs.