Timber firms to take ecolabeling trial

Timber firms to take ecolabeling trial

JAKARTA (JP): At least 22 timber companies have been offered
the opportunity to undergo ecolabeling trials to test their
readiness for the start of international ecolabeling in 2000, a
timber executive says.

Chairman of the Association of Indonesian Forest
Concessionaires Hendro Prastowo, said here over the weekend that
some of the timber companies had said they were willing to
undergo the trial but others had not yet responded.

"The ecolabeling trial will start in August or September," he
said.

The forest auditing would use a harmonized ecolabeling formula
set by the Indonesian Ecolabeling Agency, the ministry of
forestry, and the Association of Indonesian Forest
Concessionaires, which previously had different ecolabeling
standards.

"The three agencies discussed ecolabeling in April and came up
with a harmonized formula. It is based on sustainable forest
management," said Hendro.

Offer

The concessionaires that have been offered the ecolabeling
trial are PT Sindo Lumber, ITCI, Sumalindo Lestari, Sarmiento
Parakantja, Sari Bumi Kusuma, Kinai Lestari, Melapi Timber,
Limbang Ganeca, Inhutani I and II, Gunung Meranti, Balikpapan
Forest Industri, Intracawood, Narkata Rimba, Dharma Satya
Nusantara, Inhutani I Labanan, Belayan River Timber, Sandijaya
Satria, Sarang Sapta Putra, Alas Helau, Gunung Gajah Abadi, and
Timber Dana.

Hendro said the ecolabeling trial to prepare Indonesian
concessionaires before international ecolabeling was enforced on
the world market in 2000.

The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), which
groups consumer and producer countries, has stipulated that in
2000 ecolabeling would be a prerequisite for producers of
tropical timber to gain access to international markets.

When international ecolabeling is applied, Indonesian
concessionaires will find it hard to sell their products overseas
without ecolabels, said Hendro.

Ecolabeling has been reportedly applied in 19 countries since
1977. These countries include members of the European Union,
Canada, Japan, Scandinavian countries, the United States, New
Zealand, Australia, India, South Korea, Singapore, Croatia,
Taiwan and Israel.

Last year, Indonesia and Malaysia expressed concern over the
ecolabeling requirement.

The two countries said they considered the ITTO ecolabeling
ruling unfair because it did not apply to non-tropical timber.
(bnt)