RI, China fail to agree on fighting illegal logging<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia and China have failed to seal a key agreement in a
\nministerial level meeting to fight against the trade of illegal
\nforestry products due to \"a widely different perception\".<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban pointed to
\nChina's concept on illegal trade in which the country's
\nregulation stipulates that all commodities entering China were
\ndeemed legal.<\/p>\n
\"In the ministerial meeting, officials failed to agree on
\nefforts to prevent the illegal trade of forestry products from
\nIndonesia to China as the latter did not care where the
\ncommodities came from,\" he said at the State Palace on Monday.<\/p>\n
The ministerial meeting was held to prepare for the signing of
\neight bilateral agreements between Indonesia and China during
\nChinese President Hu Jintao's visit after attending the Asian-
\nAfrican Summit last week.<\/p>\n
Despite the failed meeting, Kaban was optimistic that the
\nupcoming negotiation with China over illegal trade would bear
\nfruit.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and China signed on Monday agreements on a strategic
\npartnership aimed at improving the already-good bilateral
\nrelations between them which have been built up for more than 50
\nyears.<\/p>\n
\"To reach a mutual understanding and concept on the illegal
\ntrade of forestry products is a process. I'm optimistic that
\neventually we will reach an agreement,\" said Kaban.<\/p>\n
Chinese's booming economy has created a need for oil, minerals
\nas well as forestry products. The increasing demand in the
\nproperty sector -- to respond to the needs of richer Chinese who
\nbuild more houses and buy more books and newspapers -- means
\nthere is a greater need for forestry products.<\/p>\n
Kaban estimated that illegal trade in forestry products from
\nIndonesia to China, especially raw timber, in the past couple of
\nyears has reached some 9 million cubic meters valued at Rp 18
\ntrillion (US$1.86 billion).<\/p>\n
Indonesia has banned raw timber exports since 2003, following
\nrampant illegal logging at home which has been caused by a
\ngrowing demand for timber from the forestry industry in China and
\nMalaysia.<\/p>\n
A joint study by the Center for International Forestry
\nResearch (CIFOR), Forest Trends and the Chinese Center for
\nAgricultural Policy last year disclosed that between 1997 and
\n2002 China's import on forest products rose by 75 percent from
\n$6.4 billion to $11.2 billion.<\/p>\n
Preliminary figures suggest that imports reached almost $13
\nbillion in 2003, with the majority of Chinese forest product
\nimports coming from Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Canada, the
\nstudy said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Russia and Canada altogether account for over 60
\npercent of the pulp and paper imports, while Indonesia is the
\nlargest source of plywood and lumber products for the world's
\nmost populous country.<\/p>\n
Kaban and Minister of Trade Mari Elka Pangestu had offered
\nChina the opportunity to open its forestry industry in Indonesia,
\nin order to limit the trade of illegal timber and to ensure a
\nsustainable timber supply for its industry.<\/p>\n
\"We have offered them the opportunity to invest in our
\ndownstream forestry industry so that they could receive a legal
\ntimber supply from sustainable resources. We will give them
\nincentives if they agree to it,\" said Kaban.<\/p>\n
China has made several moves to protect its own forests by
\nputting a halt to most logging in many areas and closing down
\nthousands of small factories and mills, resulting in the
\nskyrocketing import of timber, lumber and pulp.<\/p>",
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