United against illegal logging
Indonesia and the European Union (EU) joined hands last week in stepping up their campaign against illegal logging by addressing the problem from both the supply and demand sides.
Their cooperation will be implemented through the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (Flegt). Starting in 2013, all timber products from Indonesia — one of the world’s largest suppliers — exported to Europe — one of the world’s largest consumers — should be certified as having been logged in processes that prioritize sustainability.
So far, only about 50 percent of Indonesian timber and wood-based exports to Europe, worth annually about US$1.2 billion, have been certified as legal and harvested in a sustainable manner.
The agreement will implement both the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Policy on timber and timber products and the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System. The pact ensures that all Indonesian timber products that have the Flegt license will have unlimited access to EU member states.
But in addition to efforts to slow global deforestation, implementing the agreement will also help Indonesia’s timber products compete in the United States and other consumer nations that have adopted policies to ensure the legality of such imports.
Most developed countries have now imposed stricter regulations on imports of timber and other forest-based products, such as pulp and paper, due to concerns over the dangers of climate change and because of strong pressure from consumer and environmental organizations that have asked for the certification of all forest products.
Indonesia was the first country in Asia to sign the voluntary partnership agreement with the EU and will be the largest timber exporter among those that have already signed it.
The biggest challenge for Indonesia is to ensure the credibility and integrity of its Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK), which is scheduled to be fully implemented in early 2012. The system should ensure that only timber with a certificate of legality will be allowed to be traded domestically or internationally.
A wood audit for forest certification aims at verifying that a particular species of wood is derived from legally managed forests. This process requires companies across the entire wood supply chain hold chain-of-custody certificates so that the label or bar-code can follow the wood from the forests to the finished product.
The chain of custody itself is the process of harvesting wood, primary and secondary processing, manufacturing, distribution and sales.
The wood audit inspects each of these processing steps to ensure that the timber or wood originated from forests are being managed in accordance with the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable forest management.
The wood and timber inspections currently carried out by the Forestry Ministry are not only ineffective and vulnerable to corruption and abuse, but the process only inspects documents from forestry offices, which can easily be forged or falsified.
Even though premium prices gained by certified timber in other major importing countries, such as China, do not seem to offset the certification costs, neither the government nor companies can wait much longer. Consumer organizations in developed countries have increasingly pressured importers to only buy legal and sustainable certified forest products.
Their cooperation will be implemented through the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) on Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (Flegt). Starting in 2013, all timber products from Indonesia — one of the world’s largest suppliers — exported to Europe — one of the world’s largest consumers — should be certified as having been logged in processes that prioritize sustainability.
So far, only about 50 percent of Indonesian timber and wood-based exports to Europe, worth annually about US$1.2 billion, have been certified as legal and harvested in a sustainable manner.
The agreement will implement both the EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade Policy on timber and timber products and the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System. The pact ensures that all Indonesian timber products that have the Flegt license will have unlimited access to EU member states.
But in addition to efforts to slow global deforestation, implementing the agreement will also help Indonesia’s timber products compete in the United States and other consumer nations that have adopted policies to ensure the legality of such imports.
Most developed countries have now imposed stricter regulations on imports of timber and other forest-based products, such as pulp and paper, due to concerns over the dangers of climate change and because of strong pressure from consumer and environmental organizations that have asked for the certification of all forest products.
Indonesia was the first country in Asia to sign the voluntary partnership agreement with the EU and will be the largest timber exporter among those that have already signed it.
The biggest challenge for Indonesia is to ensure the credibility and integrity of its Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK), which is scheduled to be fully implemented in early 2012. The system should ensure that only timber with a certificate of legality will be allowed to be traded domestically or internationally.
A wood audit for forest certification aims at verifying that a particular species of wood is derived from legally managed forests. This process requires companies across the entire wood supply chain hold chain-of-custody certificates so that the label or bar-code can follow the wood from the forests to the finished product.
The chain of custody itself is the process of harvesting wood, primary and secondary processing, manufacturing, distribution and sales.
The wood audit inspects each of these processing steps to ensure that the timber or wood originated from forests are being managed in accordance with the social, environmental and economic aspects of sustainable forest management.
The wood and timber inspections currently carried out by the Forestry Ministry are not only ineffective and vulnerable to corruption and abuse, but the process only inspects documents from forestry offices, which can easily be forged or falsified.
Even though premium prices gained by certified timber in other major importing countries, such as China, do not seem to offset the certification costs, neither the government nor companies can wait much longer. Consumer organizations in developed countries have increasingly pressured importers to only buy legal and sustainable certified forest products.
0 comments:
Post a Comment