British Embassy clarifies

British Embassy clarifies

On March 10, 2004 you reported that the United Kingdom had
banned Indonesian plywood imports, and then lifted the ban. This
is not correct. UK consumers greatly value Indonesian timber
products for their excellent quality. The UK remains one of the
largest importers of Indonesian forest products in Europe, and
has never banned the import of Indonesian timber products. The UK
is a member of the European Community and as such does not have
the competence to take decisions to restrict imports. Such
decisions are taken by the Council of Ministers acting on
proposals which have been developed through close cooperation
between the European Commission and all EU member states.

It is true, however, that last summer three of the UK's five
largest buyers of Indonesian plywood temporarily disengaged from
their Indonesian suppliers, and have yet to renew those contract.
This happened following information from the Indonesian Ministry
of Forestry that inspections of eight large Indonesian plywood
mills had found all eight to be operating illegally and/or
harboring illegal timber. Two of these mills were supplying
plywood to the UK. Naturally, UK buyers were concerned by this
information, hence the temporary disengagement. This was,
however, the choice of the companies, and not a matter of
government policy.

Your article reports that UK buyers cannot accept Indonesian
plywood because of an agreement between the UK and Indonesian
governments. This is not the case. A Memorandum of Understanding
on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance has been signed between
the government of Indonesia and the UK, which commits both
governments to working together to tackle illegal logging. It
proposes developing and testing independent systems for verifying
the legality of timber flowing between Indonesia and the UK.

Both the government of Indonesia and the UK are fully
committed to implementing the Action Plan agreed in the
Memorandum of Understanding. Most recently, a meeting was held in
the UK in February to discuss the timber trade. This meeting was
attended by representatives from the Indonesian and UK
governments and forest products industries, as well as civil
society. Following this meeting, UK government and industry
officials have been invited to Indonesia to discuss further areas
for cooperation. We hope that this visit, scheduled for April or
May, will afford us an opportunity to clarify concerns and
develop mutually acceptable systems to increase the level of
legal and ethical trade between our nations.

MARK WALMSLEY, First Secretary (Trade and Investment)

British Embassy, Jakarta