Japan to help RI curb illegal timber trade

Japan to help RI curb illegal timber trade

Rendi A. Witular
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

The Indonesian government is set to sign a cooperation agreement
with its Japanese counterpart in April this year to help curb
widespread international trading in illegal timber.

Ministry of Forestry spokesman Tachrir Fathoni told The
Jakarta Post last week that the cooperation was needed as Japan
had long been a major market for illegal timber-based products.

"We expect the cooperation will cut the chain of illegal
timber trading with Japan and, at the same time, help trace the
origin of the timber," said Tachrir.

Tachrir said that officially, Japan stopped importing logs
from Indonesia in 2001. However, based on the ministry's
investigation, an estimated 500,000 cubic meters of illegal
timber was circulating in Japan.

Indonesia's forests have been badly hit by widespread illegal
logging.

Local forestry-related businesses have also been affected by
illegal logging, as logs smuggled to timber processors in
Malaysia and China could establish a position in the lucrative
Japanese market by producing much cheaper products.

Lower prices are possible because the logs sold illegally are
not subject to various taxes.

Tachrir said that under the planned agreement with Japan, the
two countries would cooperate in developing and implementing a
verification system to detect and identify the legality of logs
and wood products sold in Japan.

The ministry said that Japan would issue a new standard for
all the country's timber-based products this year. Japan would
open an agency in Indonesia to measure the standard of the
products and issue product certifications.

A certificate would be needed for a product to enter Japan.
All timber-based products that failed to carry the certificate
would be stamped as illegal.

Tachrir added that Japan would establish a system to enable it
to trace the origin of timber-based products entering the
country.

Last year, the government signed a similar cooperation
agreement with China and Malaysia, as the two countries had long
been the largest receivers of illegal logs from Indonesia.

In the same year, the government also signed an agreement with
the UK and European Union to help stop international illegal
trading in logs and to boost efforts to protect forests.

The UK and several countries in the European Union are also an
attractive market for illegal timber-based products from the
country.

However, until now the cooperation has yet to show any
significant result.