The EU has some 177 MHa of forest and other wooded land. Wood is by far the most important forest product but not all forests are focused on wood production and only two thirds of annual wood growth is used for building, furniture, other life-style products, or energy. Non-wood forest products such as resin or cork are also important.
Regarding the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, one can distinguish three different categories of liberalisation: Products which already had duty-free access in Japan before the entering into force of the EPA; Products whose tariffs were eliminated at the entry into force of this Agreement on 1 February 2019; and products whose tariffs were reduced as an EPA concession at the entry into force of this Agreement, and which will be further phased to zero over a period of time.
The complete text of the EPA, and Annexes, incorporating the Articles on forestry, can be found on the following website of the European Commission: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1684
A factsheet has been published on this topic. Please click here to get access.
In addition, webinars were organised on this topic:
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Hundreds of web pages with up-to-date information on Japan, more than 400 market reports and recorded webinars available as well as a lot of detailed information on Japanese business culture.