The Malaysian Timber Council rejects the generalizations and grossly overstated claims made by the EIA and Telapak

"Profiting from Plunder How Malaysia Smuggles Endangered Wood, February 2004"

Malaysia does not condone any illegal trade in timber and has implemented various measures to combat the entry of illegal logs and timber into Malaysia. Enforcement measures have been stepped up and will continue to be strengthened.

The solution to the problem has to be collective and holistic. Concerned parties should also focus on the source of the problem, which is the problem of the destruction of the Indonesian rainforests and the outflow of banned Indonesian Ramin sawn timber.

Ramin populations in Malaysia

Ramin (Gonystylus spp.) is a popular, creamy yellow light hardwood. The tree is distributed widely in peat swamp forests on low undulating land and hills in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia, Ramin is dispersed in several state but most abundantly in the state of Sarawak. This includes several Totally Protected Area such as the National Parks of Maludam, Lambir and Loagan Bunut.

In the Maludam National Park, for example, the density of mature Ramin trees is estimated to be around 0.5% trees/ha. As 80% of this 43,000ha Park is covered by peat swamps, it works out to 34,000ha of Ramin habitat or approximately 17,000 adult trees in the Maludam National Park alone. Both the Loagan Bunut and Lambir National Parks have more or less the same tree density. As these areas are totally-protected, there is clear evidence that species of Ramin are not under threat in Malaysia.

Ramin on Appendix III of CITES

In 2001, subsequent to the implementation of an Indonesian export ban on Ramin on 12 April 2001, Indonesia made a request to have Ramin listed on Appendix III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of wild fauna and flora. In the CITES Notification to the Parties (No. 2001/053) dated 10 August 2001 on international trade in Ramin, the CITES Secretariat informed member countries that Indonesia had requested that Ramin be included in Appendix III. Appendix III of CITES lists plants/animals subject to regulation within the territory of a CITES party for which the cooperation of other parties is needed.

Other than Indonesia, Malaysia is the other Range state (where there is a substantial population of Ramin). Inspite of not being consulted prior to the request to have Ramin listed on CITES, Malaysia, as a party to CITES, agreed to abide by its commitments. In terms of international trade in Ramin, for a Range state like Malaysia, the species has not been totally banned (only Indonesia has announced the ban), but has to be regulated under CITES. Ramin is still able to be traded but requires CITES documents. It is not banned from global trade. Import of any specimen of a species listed on Appendix III shall require a certificate of origin from the state of export (i.e. Ramin-producing countries other than Indonesia).

For trade of Ramin from Malaysia, exporters apply for the CITES Certificates of Origin for the purpose of export from the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) for Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, and the Sarawak Forestry Department for the state of Sarawak. MTIB investigations have revealed that at no point were CITES certificates issued by Malaysian authorities to accompany what were declared by Indonesian shippers as "tropical mixed hardwood". No Certificates of Origin are issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, who only issue phytosanitary certificates.

Why did Malaysia put up a partial reservation to the CITES listing?

Malaysia put up a partial reservation to the Convention for Ramin parts & derivatives. This means than other than for logs, LSS and sawntimber, Country of Origin Certificates are not required. Malaysia as an established producer and exporter of timber and its finished products. Ramin is not the only white-coloured wood. It is hard to tell the difference between Ramin, Hevea (Malaysian Oak or Rubberwood), Jelutong, Sesenduk and Pulai. Malaysia has a USD1 billion wooden furniture industry, of which about 80% is based on Hevea wood. Hevea is also widely used to manufacture flooring. Malaysian mouldings (of which there are no less than 334 facilities in the country) use a combination of all these white-coloured timbers. The problem of look-alike is acknowledged in regulation of trade in threatened or endangered species. Customs officials in both exporting and especially importing countries were foreseen to have difficulties telling the difference. For furniture, it would be more complicated as the Heveawood component may be covered up with fabric or upholstery. As a step to ensure that the trade that we have arduously built up over the years is not jeopardized by unnecessary procedures and misidentification, Malaysia put up this partial reservation.

The EIA and Telapak should not flippantly make wild claims that by doing so, Malaysia was "setting itself up for wholesale laundering" and that the step was made "to confuse the market as to the new requirement and has facilitated illegal trade". Worse still are the allegations that Malaysian government officials are facilitating illegal trade! This is a serious and irresponsible statement. Article VII of the Text of CITES on Exemption and other special provisions relating to trade states that the provisions of Article III (Regulation of Trade in Specimens of species included in Appendix I), Article IV (Regulation of Trade in Specimens of species included in Appendix II) and Article V (Regulation of Trade in Specimens of species included in Appendix III) shall not apply to the transit or transhipment of specimens through or in the territory of a Party while the specimens remain in Customs Control. The Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) and Royal Malaysian Customs are not involved in the alleged transhipment of Indonesian Ramin timber were reported by EIA and Telapak to have happened within the Free Trade Zone. These are bonded areas considered as areas outside Malaysia and it is libelous and mischievous to even suggest that Malaysia is undermining CITES.

Malaysia's Ramin Output

The EIA broadly quotes, as its source, the Report of the Malaysia-The Netherlands Ad-Hoc Expert Group on Forest Management, Jan. 1996. It was variously quoted as stating that "poor regeneration had dramatically reduced the legal supply of Ramin logs in the country and that "as much as 120,000 m3 logs of Ramin logs needing to be imported legally and illegally each year to feed the Malaysian Ramin industry". It says that "Ramin exported from Malaysia has remained steady since the beginning of 2002 when legal Indonesian exports ceased (again quoting the Ad-Hoc Expert Group report). Nowhere does the Ad-Hoc Expert Group report states these. On closer examination, the Ad-Hoc Expert Group report is referenced together with an Independent consultant's report commissioned by EIA/Telapak, 2001". It is misleading to quote the Ad-Hoc Expert Group report together with EIA's own report. The EIA finally draws the conclusion that "Given that Ramin production in Malaysia has continued to drop, the only possible explanation is that illegal Ramin from Indonesia continues to be imported unhindered by the new controls or Malaysia's commitments under CITES".

It is illogical and unfair to draw the conclusion that proof of illegal Indonesian Ramin import is evidenced by the steady export of Ramin of Malaysia. There is selective logging in the production forest of the Permanent Forest Estate in Pekan Forest Reserve in Pahang state in Peninsular Malaysia. The forest is rich in Ramin melawis (Gonystylus bancanus). For example, one single compartment (206.44 ha) of the Pekan FR has 4.7 stems of Ramin per ha greater than 50cm dbh. This works out to about 17.8m3/ha. The concessionaire has been given more than 20 compartments (each about 200 ha) which have been logged over the last four years. This easily accounts for 40,000m3 of Ramin. Additionally, there are is also stateland logging, which would more than double that figure.

Production of Ramin/Melawis by States in Peninsular Malaysia (m3)

The state of Sarawak produces about 2,000 m3 of Ramin logs per month from its production forests, which works out to about 24,000 m3 per year. Altogether, Malaysia's production of Ramin logs is about 75,000 m3 per year.

Actions taken by Malaysia:

1. Ban on importation of Indonesian logs on 25 June 2002.
2. Ban on square logs (large scantling & squares) measuring over 60 squares inches on 1 June 2003.
3. Intercepted 120 cases of illegal importation in year 2003 and notified Indonesian authorities, especially of 16 cases involving Ramin totally around 417m3.
4. Support EU Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT).
    

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Last modified: June 18, 2004
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