Jun 22, 2010. /Lesprom Network/. The European Union is to ban the sale of illegally harvested timber in 2012 after two years of negotiations. Lawmakers reached a deal that will require companies to carry out due diligence to determine whether timber is lawful, as KMS Baltics reported. Companies that fail to comply could be hit with fines and trading bans. The rules, which apply to raw timber and timber products, must be approved by EU governments before they can become law. Sebastien Risso, forest policy director at Greenpeace, told Reuters: "With this law, the black economy for wood products in Europe will be closed for businesses, levelling the playing field so companies are better able to act sustainably." At present, it is not against the law to sell timber within the European Union that has been harvested illegally outside of the bloc. UK environment secretary Caroline Spelman has welcomed the move to ban it, insisting that Britain is committed to adopting the legislation.