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Timber trade group wants importing countries to help stop illegal tradeYOKOHAMA, JAPAN, 9 NOVEMBER 2002: A tropical timber trade group set up to influence policy in the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC) has condemned illegal logging and illegal trade and called on importing countries to cooperate in stopping illegal trade. In his closing statement to 33rd session of the ITTC, Trade Advisory Group spokesperson Barney Chan of the Sarawak Timber Association praised Council efforts to combat illegal logging and the illegal trade and said the legitimate trade was willing to cooperate in every way possible. Illegal activities undermine 'both progress towards sustainable forest management and the markets for timber produced from well-managed forests, he said. Mr. Chan called on all ITTO members to play their part in combating illegal activities, citing cooperation between Malaysia and Indonesia on the issue of the illegal trade in tropical hardwood logs. Malaysia has banned the import of logs from Indonesia to help enforce Indonesia's log export ban announced last year. He called on other countries to consider reciprocal moves to help Indonesia crack down on illegal activities. ITTO has recently launched several initiatives to address illegal logging and illegal trade. For example, 13 ITTO member countries Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Thailand, UK and the USA are participating in an ITTO study to assess export and import data on tropical timber and tropical timber products. This study will help determine the extent of undocumented and possibly illegal trade, one of the first steps in reducing such trade. In an address to the Council, ITTO Executive Director Dr Manoel Sobral Filho reported that the Government of Peru had invited ITTO to assist it in improving forest law enforcement. ITTO will finance a study on ways to address illegal logging and illegal trade in that country as an input to the Inter-minist'erial Commission to combat illegal logging established last October by President Alejandro Toledo. ITTO and the Government of Indonesia are discussing a proposal for a similar study in Indonesia. Meanwhile, a project to find ways of reducing illegal logging is underway in the Indonesian provinces of Riau and West Kalimantan. |
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9 November 2002
MTC’s
