Malaysia to ban imports of RI logs

Malaysia to ban imports of RI logs

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia plans to ban imports of logs from Indonesia, partly to protect its furniture industry from charges it uses illegally- felled timber, a government source said Wednesday.

Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik proposed the ban at a weekly cabinet meeting Wednesday and would submit a working paper on the subject next week, a ministry source told AFP.

"The proposal is to ban all imports of logs, whether legal or illegal, especially from Indonesia which has requested us to do so for a long time. There is also pressure from Europe," he said.

The ban was partly aimed at protecting Malaysia's furniture exports to Europe amid protests the country's timber products did not come from sustainable forest management, he said.

The proposal came just a day after Lim returned from a three- week trip to Europe to promote Malaysia's timber products.

Last year, Malaysia exported US$1.7 billion worth of furniture, mainly to Europe and the United States.

Some 70 percent of Indonesian logs are estimated to be illegally felled, and Jakarta has banned the export of unprocessed logs in a bid to protect its rainforests.

But timber firms there have urged the government to do more to curb illegal logging, which has flooded the timber market with cheap logs and sent many companies into bankruptcy.

The source said uncut logs, mainly from Indonesia's Sumatra island, were brought into Malacca and Johor states on peninsula Malaysia and to Sabah state on Borneo island.

The logs were mainly used in the construction sector and processed into timber products, especially furniture.