KEMENTERIAN PERUSAHAAN UTAMA
(Ministry of Primary Industries)
MALAYSIA
TINGKAT 6-8, MENARA DAYABUMI
JALAN SULTAN HISHAMUDDIN
50640 KUALA LUMPUR

PRESS RELEASE BY THE MINISTRY OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES, MALAYSIA

Actions taken by Malaysia to help Indonesia who is facing problem of Illegal Logging

Background

On February 6, 2002 the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia had issued a report entitled “Indonesia’s effort to curb illegal logging and its associated trade in illegally logged timber”.  The content of the report however have failed to acknowledge the contributions made by Malaysia to help Indonesia curb problem of illegal logging faced by the country.  In view of that it is felt necessary, in the spirit of transparency to let it be known of actions that have been taken by the Government of Malaysia.

Imposition of ban on import of logs and square logs

The Government of Malaysia had taken actions to impose a ban on the importation of logs and square logs (LSS measuring over 60 square inches) from Indonesia effective from June 25, 2002 and June 1, 2003 respectively.  This action has been taken following the request by Indonesia which have also banned exports of logs.

Enforcement cases

Inspite of the ban on exports of logs by Indonesia, traders from the Republic continue to bring logs and square logs to Malaysia.  Actions are being taken against these Indonesian traders and the number of arrests are as follows:

The Indonesian authorities have been notified of these cases.

Export and Import of Ramin

Pursuant to the decision of CITES which placed Ramin in Appendix III, effective August 6, 2001, the Government of Malaysia requires importers to present CITES certificate for those who bring in Ramin into Malaysia.  The latest update on the enforcement of this CITES regulation is as follows:

All the cases involved Ramin coming from Indonesia.  The Malaysian authority had acted in accordance with CITES regulations and had informed the Indonesian authorities of the cases and requested them to take back the Ramin at their cost.  The response given by Indonesia was to ask the Malaysian authority to take action as it deemed fit.  All the Ramin were confiscated and compound imposed on the offenders.

Malaysia will continue to extend support to Indonesia

In the spirit of international and regional cooperation, Malaysia will continue to extend it full support and cooperation to Indonesia.  Nevertheless the issue of illegal logging is a universal phenomena affecting many countries including Malaysia.  When we were facing the problem in the early 90’s, Malaysia amended and strengthened its forestry law by imposing mandatory jail sentence for those convicted of illegal logging activities within the sovereign territory of Malaysia.  The effective enforcement of the law has proven to be successful and we will be pleased to impart and share our experiences with any interested country.  In other words, the bulk of responsibility to address the problem of illegal logging which is the source of illegal trade in timber, lies with the sovereign national government concern.  International and regional support are vital ingredients which can only supplement and compliment but not replace actions necessary to be undertaken by the national government.

Heart of the matter need to be resolved

It is our considered view, that continual resort to “blaming syndrome” will not extricate any country-out of problem they faced.  Also continual resort to playing the card of “being a victim” is an exercise in futility.

There is an urgent need to take action to address the heart of the matter, to provide an amicable and mutually beneficial solution to the fundamental domestic administrative issues and relationship of the various level of government in the Republic of Indonesia.  This issue impinged on what is legal or otherwise.

MINISTRY OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
February 7, 2004