Gin Kurniawan

Gin Kurniawan
The Jakarta Post
Jepara

Ecolabeling haunts the town of teak wood

Ecolabelling. This world, for most of the furniture makers in
Jepara, is just like a ghost. The ecolabeling requirement imposed
by some Western countries is not only frightening but is also
threatening their existence.

Ecolabeling is so popular, even among thousands of workers
involved in the teak furniture industry in the town, the home of
over 1,000 large and small furniture makers.

Their future really depends on the ability of local wood
producers to obtain the ecolabeling certificate. If not, Jepara
could lose its prestige as one of the world's largest teak
furniture producers.

Ecolabeling has come to haunt the town since American
certification body Rainforest Alliance's (RA) temporarily
suspended the ecolabeling certificate awarded to state-owned
timber company PT Perhutani in August this year.

Although the suspension would, in fact, become effective on
Oct. 20, next week, some importers, particularly from Europe,
have reduced their orders. Teak furniture exports from Jepara
have declined by over 70 percent since the suspension was
imposed.

"Our products were rejected in Germany due to the ecolabeling
problem," said Arifin Mubarok, one of the largest furniture
exporters in the town.

Arifin, chairman of the local chapter of the Indonesian
Indigenous Businessmen's Association (HIPPI), hoped that
Perhutani, the only teak supplier in the country, could get
similar certificates from other companies.

"If the company fails to get a new one, our exports,
particularly to European countries, will be in jeopardy," he
added.

According to him, European buyers are very sensitive to the
ecolabeling issue. Many importers from the region have halted
their orders because the raw materials for Jepara teak furniture
are no longer procured from a certified wood producer.

"Based on information I have obtained, many European producers
have stopped importing teak furniture from Jepara for ecolabeling
reasons," said Akhmad Fauzi, the director of CV Sipra, which
produces outdoor furniture.

According to the International Tropical Timber Organization's
rules, beginning in 2001, ecolabeling certification should become
a prerequisite for producers of tropical wood to gain access to
the world's markets.

The measure also affects furniture producers because they
should also use raw materials from certified timber companies to
sell their products overseas.

PT Perhutani, which produces 700,000 cubic meters of teak per
year, is among the first timber companies to have obtained an
elolabeling certificate.

According to RA, the suspension was imposed due to the
company's noncompliance with the standards required by the Forest
Stewardship Council, the Mexico-based international organization
that accredits certification firms.

But Perhutani said that the charge was not true. "We will
continue to adopt sustainable forest management, with or without
the certificate," Perhutani's president Marsanto, M.S. said
recently.