EU urged to reject KL wood products<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Minister of Forestry Muhammad Prakosa is urging the European
\nUnion (EU) to reject timber products from Malaysia, saying they
\nare mostly made of illegally cut logs collected from Indonesia's
\nnatural forests.<\/p>\n
\"We are proposing that the EU reject timber products from
\nMalaysia as there are indications that most of them are made of
\nlogs taken from illicit sources,\" said Prakosa on the sidelines
\nof a media gathering on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He explained that currently the Indonesian government and the
\nEU representative in Jakarta were discussing joint measures aimed
\nat preserving Indonesia's severely damaged natural forests.<\/p>\n
During the talks, Indonesia had proposed an article to be
\nincorporated in the agreement, insisting that EU countries should
\nscreen all timber products from Malaysia and reject those
\nsuspected of using illegally cut logs from Indonesia, he said.<\/p>\n
\"EU is considering our proposal. It is likely to be approved,\"
\nhe said adding that the agreement was expected to be signed at
\nthe end of this year.<\/p>\n
Last June, the Indonesian government managed to bring Japan to
\nthe negotiating table to sign a similar agreement.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, Japan agreed to reject timber products
\nfrom Malaysia, Singapore and China, using Indonesian trees as raw
\nmaterials.<\/p>\n
Prakosa has frequently lashed out at Singapore, Malaysia and
\nChina for taking most of the illegally cut logs smuggled out of
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Prakosa had planned to visit the countries to talk with the
\ncountries' governments on possible solutions, however, he
\nrecently dropped the plan.<\/p>\n
\"There will be no bilateral talks with Malaysia and Singapore
\nsince they are uncooperative. To date, both countries consider
\nthey have the right to legally use the smuggled logs, and blame
\nIndonesia for its lack of preventative efforts.<\/p>\n
\"So what we will do instead is to approach buyer countries to
\nreject their products,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Illegal logging has become one of the country's major problems
\nas the practice has caused considerable damage to Indonesia's
\nrain forests and the quality of the environment in general.<\/p>\n
In many areas, illegal logging also involved government
\nofficials and military personnel.<\/p>\n
According to environmentalists, illegal logging produces some
\n50.7 million cubic meters of timber annually, resulting in
\nfinancial losses to the state of at least Rp 30.42 trillion
\n(US$3.37 billion).<\/p>\n
They said at least 1.45 million hectares of the country's
\nforest were lost annually due to logging. Legal logging is
\nconducted only on 0.67 million of the total acreage.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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