Countries around the world are acting to combat illegal logging and foster good forest governance. The EU's FLEGT Action Plan was established in 2003. It aims to reduce illegal logging by strengthening sustainable and legal forest management, improving governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber.

FLEGT licences are documents issued by timber-producing countries that have ratified a Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the EU. The licences confirm that timber or timber products comply fully with the relevant laws of the country of export. FLEGT-licensed timber and timber products are considered to comply with the requirements of the EU Timber Regulation, which prohibits EU importers and EU timber producers from placing illegally harvested timber and timber products on the EU market. You can find the list of countries that have ratified the Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the EU here.