An Indonesian diplomat has reiterated his country's opposition to Australia's Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill, according to the passed by Australia's House in August, aims to prohibit the importation and sale of all timber products containing illegally logged timber.
An Indonesian diplomat has reiterated his country's opposition to Australia's Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill, according to the passed by Australia's House in August, aims to prohibit the importation and sale of all timber products containing illegally logged timber.
Denny Lesmana, first secretary for economic affairs at Indonesia's embassy in Canberra, Australia, "said he lamented Australia's refusal to postpone the landmark timber trade bill, stating that Jakarta had hoped to have the situation settled by now," the ICTSD wrote. Indonesia is labeling the bill a threat to its $5 billion in annual timber exports, claiming the bill is poorly written. Indonesia has also said it was not properly consulted on the bill, and that the legislation does not take into account Indonesia's own "SVLK" timber verification system, which Indonesia established in order to comply with the European Union's (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan.
Further, the bill requires importers of regulated timber products and processors of raw logs to comply with due diligence requirements; requires the accurate description of legally logged timber products for sale in Australia; establishes enforcement powers and offences, and imposes penalties; and provides for a review of the first five years of the operation of the Act. The burden of proof for such offenses rests with the defendant. "This is because it would be significantly more difficult for the prosecution to prove that a raw log was imported into Australia than it would be for the defendant to disprove them, given the relevant information is known particularly to the defendant," according to an Australian parliament explanatory memorandum.
Other criticisms of the bill are that it will be difficult to distinguish between legal and illegal timber because the documentation that many companies rely on can be easily faked, and that it will be expensive for importers to verify all products. Also, Indonesia questions whether the bill is compatible with guidelines set by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Meanwhile, Chatham House, a London-based think tank, recently wrote the bill "should be" compatible with the WTO policies.
The Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill is currently under consideration by Australia's Senate.
