China and Malaysia uncooperative, says minister of forestry

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban has accused Malaysia and China of turning down Indonesia's requests for cooperation against the trade in illegal forest products with the two nations concerned enjoying massive profits from the highly destructive practices.

Both nations always seemed to avoid signing concrete deals with Indonesia, presumably in order that their businessmen continue to receive the illegal products from Indonesia, Kaban told The Jakarta Post.

"Illegal logging is not only about the country of origin, but also about the receiving countries. Businessmen from China and Malaysia continue to seek our forest products regardless of whether or not they are legal," said Kaban.

He explained that both countries were reluctant to seriously cooperate with Indonesia because it involves an industry worth billions of dollars and helps absorb manpower in their respective countries.

The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry has estimated that illegal trade in forestry products from Indonesia to China, especially raw timber, over the past couple of years amounts to some 9 million cubic meters valued at Rp 18 trillion (US$1.88 billion).

According to Kaban, the failure of Indonesia to sign agreements with China was because China had not yet appointed an agency that would be tasked with the responsibility of following up on Indonesia's complaints.

Aside from that, China also insists that it mostly receives the products from Malaysia rather than Indonesia.

Contrary to that however, Kaban said illegal forestry products from Indonesia are always smuggled to Malaysia or Singapore, and then shipped to Hongkong for "legalization" before reaching their destinations in mainland China.

Indonesia and China signed last month agreements on a strategic partnership aimed at improving the already-good bilateral relations between them that have been built up over more than 50 years.

However, the two countries have so far failed to seal a key agreement on the fight against the trade of illegal forestry products due to a widely different perception on the definition of illegal trade.

Indonesia is also having problems in signing similar deals with Malaysia, with the later insisting that illegal logs or other forestry products flowing into the country are a result of Indonesia's lack of law enforcement.

"We are also facing similar problem with Malaysia on the definition of illegal trade. Our negotiations have been stalled for years due to these differences that are unlikely to be able to be addressed soon," said Kaban.

According to Kaban, however, China and Malaysia had once offered a way for Indonesia to prevent its forestry products from being smuggled overseas by categorizing a number of trees originating in Indonesia as an endangered species under the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s framework.

One of the trees proposed to be included in the WTO appendix 3 category is Intsia palembanica, locally known as merbau, which according to the ministry makes up the lion's shares of Indonesian logs smuggled to China.

"We are currently studying the proposal to include merbau in the appendix 3 so that logs derived from the tree cannot be traded for business," said Kaban, adding that the log is traded for at least $315 per cubic meter.

Indonesia has banned raw timber exports since 2003, following rampant illegal logging at home that has been caused by growing demands for timber both domestically and overseas.