KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has imposed an

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government has imposed an indefinite ban on the import of logs from Indonesia, the national news agency Bernama reported Tuesday.

Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik said the ban, which took effect immediately, was necessary to combat allegations that Malaysia was involved in the trading of illegal timber from Indonesia.

"We have been accused of importing illegal logs from Indonesia and selling the timber products produced from these illegal logs to consumers worldwide," Lim was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Lim didn't identify who made the allegations, which he said had been aired in a program by the British Broadcasting Corp. recently.

Ministry officials weren't immediately available for comment.

Malaysia imports about 1 million cubic meters of logs every year from Indonesia. -- Dow Jones