Illegally harvested and confiscated timber will be sold by the National Forestry Agency
Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Code of Criminal Procedure set out the rules for the immediate disposal of illegally harvested timber.
According to the amendments, the body, which compiles the administrative violation report on found or temporarily confiscated illegally harvested timber within the state forest and protected area, on the territory owned by the state, or within the administrative boundaries of the municipality (except for the municipally or privately owned territory), is obliged to hand over for immediate realization to the National Forestry Agency and on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara - to the Adjara Forestry Agency.
In accordance with the amendment to the Criminal Procedure Code, in the above circumstances, the prosecutor is entitled to request the transfer of this material evidence (woody plant) to the National Forestry Agency, and in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara - to the Adjara Forestry Agency.
The volume of confiscated illegal timber averages 5,000 cubic meters per year. About 3,500 cubic meters of this timber could not be managed. The new legislation sets out the rules for the immediate realization of illegal timber, which will ultimately solve this problem.
Prior to the made changes, the confiscated timber could not be sold by the state until the court decision on the case came into force, which made this resource unusable because for this time it lose its commodity value; much of it could not be sold at all, or at a much lower price.
