Indonesian timber products may have recently met the EU’s legality standards, but the first fully licensed shipments to the regional bloc will have to wait until the end of the year.

Before Indonesian timber products are eligible for the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade ( FLEGT ) licensing scheme, the 28-nation grouping will need to conduct further internal discussions and preparations.

EU Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam Vincent Guerend said the EU Commission would carry out a process called “democratic scrutiny” in the European Parliament and the European Council to review the proposal.

The process will start in the middle of June and will go on for two months before a decision is made and the policy is finally adopted. Guerend expects the discussions to run smoothly. After this timber industry players and operators in the EU will be given 90 days to prepare.

“So that’s our internal decision-making procedure [...] Hopefully Indonesia can ship its first FLEGT-licensed timber products before the end of the year,” Guerend told The Jakarta Post recently.

After years of intense negotiations, the EU recently declared that Indonesia had achieved full implementation of its timber legality system ( SLVK ), enabling the country’s timber products to secure a FLEGT license. By producing FLEGT-licensed timber, Indonesian timber products will be regarded by the EU as having been harvested legally and gain free access into the EU market.

Indonesia’s timber industry has long been scrutinized and condemned for extensive deforestation, including such practices such as improper land conversion, illegal logging and the burning of forests.

“The authorities also lack communication procedures between seaports, so these are the challenges the EU has to prepare for”

The EU claims that the scheme will reduce illegal logging practices by strengthening sustainable and legal forest management, improving governance and promoting trade in legally produced timber.

Environment and Forestry Ministry senior ministerial advisor Agus Justianto said EU countries also needed preparations before the first FLEGT-licensed shipment from Indonesia. During Indonesia’s recent roadshow to five EU countries to inform local timber importers, Agus found that most countries were not yet ready.

“Each country only has one competent authority to handle FLEGT licenses, while there are several seaports in each country through which our products will enter. The authorities also lack communication procedures between seaports, so these are the challenges the EU has to prepare for,” Agus said in Jakarta recently.

The Trade Ministry expects timber exports to grow 10 percent now that Indonesia has secured the SLVK certification and FLEGT license, both of which will both restore European trust in Indonesian timber.

In 2015, Indonesia exported just under US$1 billion worth of timber products to EU countries, according to data from the Central Statistics Agency ( BPS ). Of this total, furniture exports accounted for $319 million, followed by processed wood at $282.47 million and paper at $192.31 million.

Indonesia’s highest timber exports were recorded in 2011 with a total of over $1 billion. In subsequent years, the figure declined before slowly picking up pace in 2014.

Indonesia Sawmill and Wood Working Association ( ISWA ) chairwoman Soewarni said that with the FLEGT license, Indonesian timber exporters would be more confident in selling their products overseas.

“In my association, more than 90 percent of the businesses are ready, so we hope the EU can quickly make a positive decision,” she said.

(Source: thejakartapost.com  Author: Dewanti A. Wardhani)