Derzhlis (Lasy Państwowe) announced on Wednesday that it has started the process of changing the rules for the sale of raw wood, which are designed to support the domestic woodworking industry. The goal – change the regulations and effectively check entrepreneurs who purchase wood.
«The solution we propose will allow to work more effectively in the field of verification of declarations submitted by entrepreneurs, elimination of unscrupulous participants in limited timber sales procedures, limitation of roundwood exports and support of industries responsible for approximately 2.5% of GDP», – stressed the general director of State Forestry, Witold Koss. "The introduction of such changes also means an increase in the added value associated with the export of roundwood. With the current rules for the export of raw wood raw materials, we lose approximately 5 billion zlotys of added value annually," he added.
The foresters reported that they asked the Minister of Finance to propose introducing an additional group of GTU to the Regulation of the Minister of Finance, Investments and Development of October 15, 2019 regarding clarification of the amount of data contained in tax declarations and GST records. Currently, there are 13 groups of GTU. "An additional, fourteenth group would include untreated wood. The change in the provisions would make it possible to link untreated wood with the provisions of the European Parliament regulation on the provision of certain goods and products related to deforestation and forest degradation on the EU market and export from the EU, – State Forest Service explained. They emphasized that the change will shorten the supply chain, which is beneficial from both an economic and environmental perspective. "The recommendations will also make it possible to control the subjects of wood trade in our market," the LP added.
We would like to remind you that for months, false information has appeared in the mass media that "forest managers are cutting down trees in Polish forests and selling raw materials to foreign markets, primarily to China." "Limiting the export of raw wood from Poland is one of the actions announced by the government. The domestic forest industry is also expecting such a change," the LP noted.
Derzlis recently told PAP that 14.3 million tons of raw wood were sold abroad from Poland in 2019-2023, up from 2.2 million tons last year. Referring to the calculations of the Main Department of Statistics, the State Forest Service reported that in 2019-2023, the most raw wood was exported to Germany – 5.3 million tons; the shipment of wood to our western neighbors was 37 percent. export at this time. Next come "other countries", where 5.1 million tons of wood (35%) were sent, and then – China. In 2019-2023, 4 million tons of wood, i.e. 28%, reached the Celestial region. export of this raw material.
Most of the wood received by State Forests is intended for entrepreneurs and is purchased through the Forest Portal (70% of the proposed volume) and in the auction sale system (30%). it is about 80 percent. proposals of State Forests. The remaining 20 percent goes to retail.
All entrepreneurs can buy wood at system auctions, including new entities with no history of purchases. They also receive wood that could not be sold through the Forest and Timber Portal.
Currently, the area of forests in Poland is more than 9.2 million hectares, of which more than 7.3 million hectares are managed by state forests. LP employs approximately 26,000 people. people.
