A 2008 law aimed at reducing U.S. imports of products from illegal logging appears to be working, concludes an analysis published this month in Forest Policy and Economics-but it may not be helping protect the world's forests. The Lacey Act was first passed in 1900 to penalize imports of poached wildlife (helping curb markets for feathers and hides); it was amended in 2008 to cover plant products such as wood, paper, or pulp to discourage illegal logging. The analysis shows that the Lacey Act does appear to be reducing U.S. imports of problematic timber-but the authors note that that doesn't mean the illegal logging problem is solved, as shady exporters may instead take their products to other nations with laxer regulation.
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