The European Commission has cast doubt on research commissioned by the Australian government that questions the need for laws to block illegally logged timber from entering the country.
Federal government research said a strict ban on illegal timber would be costly for consumers and business, and would mean Australia acting unilaterally.
The report by the Centre for International Economics concluded that an Australian ban would achieve little to influence the situation globally.
However, the EU questioned estimates made in the research on the value of illegal timber imports into Australia and said furniture had not been included.
”The assumption that Australia act unilaterally is rather contentious. Not only the EU and US but many other countries are developing measures to deal with illegally harvested timber,” the EU said.
A 2005 study found that illegally logged timber represented about 10% of all timber imported into Australia. Timber is harvested from protected areas, such as national parks and nature reserves in countries including Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and China.
The Australian government has now hired a consultant to develop an assessment methodology to conduct further research.
