1. Legal framework
Timber transportation in Romania is mainly regulated by the following normative acts:
- Forestry Code (Law 46/2008)
- HG 497/2020 - Rules on the origin, circulation and marketing of timber, amended and supplemented by GD 512/2022
- Law 171/2010 on establishing and sanctioning forest offences
The role of SUMAL 2.0
SUMAL 2.0 (Integrated Information System for the Tracking of Timber) is the electronic tool to ensure timber traceability.
The use of SUMAL is mandatory for:
- forestry scouts
- economic operators storing, processing, sorting, sorting, marketing timber
- professional transporters (more than 20 m3/year)
- timber exporters/importers
- forestry control authorities
The application has dedicated modules for planning, approvals, control, reporting, etc. Its purpose is to provide a clear record of the origin and circulation of timber.
3. Provenance documents
In order to be transported legally, the wood must be documented:
- APV (act de mise en valeur) for the timber from the authorized parts,
- Electronic register (SUMAL 2.0 Agent) for timber in warehouses,
- Accompanying notice for timber being transported,
- Customs Import Declaration (CDI) or FLEGT license for timber imported from third countries,
- Intra-EU documents (invoice, CMR, etc.) for timber imported from the EU,
- Various minutes of surrender, inventory, confiscation for other specific situations.
4. Accompanying notice
The accompanying notice is the document issued in SUMAL 2.0 that must accompany any shipment of timber. It can be:
- electronically on the professional carrier's device
- PDF/printed, when the carrier is not a professional
- letric, in some cases (max 20 cubic meters from the place of harvest)
Types of opinions:
- from the place of harvest
- from storage/temporary storage
- for imported timber
- for transhipment
- for purchases (wood purchased from individuals)
- for technological transport
Opinion issuers can be:
- economic operators legally exploiting timber
- warehouses selling timber
- forest offices (in situations specified in the rules)
When issuing the opinion, data on:
- issuer,
- loading point,
- recipient and the point of unloading,
- means of transport,
- timber transported (species, species, volumes).
5. Obligations of the carrier
During transportation, professional drivers have specific obligations:
- take 4 photos of the load (front, back, side),
- keep the data connection and GPS receiver turned on,
- update its position regularly,
- report any incidents or malfunctions.
At destination, the consignee accepts or rejects the goods in the application. If they refuse, the notice issuer must request a new notice for the return of the goods.
In the case of non-professional shipments (max. 20mc), the consignment note shall be handed over to the consignee as proof of origin.
6. Wood of no legal provenance
Timber transported without a valid permit is considered as not of legal provenance and is confiscated. Other situations in which transported timber is confiscated:
- expired notice
- transportation without authorization
- opinion without correspondent in SUMAL
- higher volume than in the notice (over tolerances)
- transportation of timber not included in the notice
- transportation with loading/unloading point different from the notice
Penalties for illegal transportation are set by Law 171/2010 and include fines and confiscation.
7. Volume of timber transported
- The volume can be determined by individual stacking (thick wood), measurement in figures (thin wood, firewood) or weighing (for sawn timber, wood chips). Methods and tolerances are laid down in standards.
- It is obligatory to enter the volume data in the accompanying notice. For thick round wood (>24cm), the number of pieces, length and diameter of each piece must be entered. For thin wood, the number of geometrical figures and their dimensions shall be entered. Non-cut timbers may be cubed into figures.
8. Felling and deforestation
- The clearing of fruit trees and shrubs (over certain areas) or the felling of edible nuts and chestnuts is only authorized by the county agricultural directorates.
- The authorization is issued on the basis of a documentation documenting the decline/ageing of the plantation, disease infestation or its location in an area where constructions of local/national interest are to be built.
- Cutting/felling without authorization is punishable by a fine.
9. Further information
- For case-by-case interpretations or complex cases, professionals should turn to the legal texts or specialized advice.
- SUMAL 2.0 has a helpdesk module where you can ask questions. Forest offices and forest directorates also provide information and support.
- In view of the damage caused by illegal logging, professionals need to pay the utmost attention to forest law enforcement. Compliance with the legal framework brings long-term benefits for both the environment and the wood processing industry.
I hope this article provides a useful overview of timber transportation regulations in Romania. For updates and further details, check the official websites of the forestry authorities regularly.
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