AFP to use timber tracking system
AFP to use timber tracking system
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta
Top government officials and environmentalists, grouped in the
Asia Forest Partnership (AFP), agreed on Wednesday that timber
producing and consuming countries need to boost cooperation in
fighting illegal timber trading.
At the end of their three-day workshop, the AFP members agreed
on several recommendations, including the one calling for
producing and consuming nations in Asia to set up a synchronized
customs system enabling them to track the legality of timber
products.
The tracking system is pivotal in the fight against illegal
timber trading, participants said.
"At present timber importing countries have difficulties
determining the legality of forest products. A timber tracking
system is expected to help them identify and reject illegal
forest products," Amha Bin Buang, an executive at the
International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), told The
Jakarta Post after the workshop.
Buang said that a tracking system would force timber-producing
countries to apply a certification system on their forest
products.
The certification system will enable people to identify
products that are taken from well-managed forests. People are
also expected to buy certified products to support sustainable
forest management.
Indonesian Ministry of Forestry's Director General of Forest
Protection and Nature Conservation, Koes Saparjadi, said forest
certification was one of the most contentious issues in the
forestry industry as some producers considered it another cost
that would reduce their competitiveness.
"Tropical timber producers are concerned about difficulties in
getting certification and the expected increase in production
costs. It needs great effort for timber-producing countries to
apply the system," he said, adding that higher level governmental
officials will discuss further the application of the
certification system.
Aside from calling for a synchronized customs system, the
workshop also called on key enforcement agencies to implement
"on-the-ground coordination" at some priority smuggling and
illegal logging centers, such as those in the border areas of
Indonesia and Malaysia.
The recommendations agreed upon during the workshop in
Yogyakarta will be brought up at the fourth AFP meeting in Japan
from Dec. 8 until Dec. 10.
The AFP was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in Johannesburg in 2002. It is one of over 200
partnerships for sustainable development registered with the
United Nations Division for Sustainable Development.
Partners of the AFP include governments, intergovernmental
organizations and members of civil society.