The European Timber Trade Federation has welcomed today’s official signing of a trade pact between the EU and Indonesia.
The signing of a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) in Jakarta under the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade makes Indonesia the largest timber exporting country to date to make such an agreement and thereby guarantee the legality of its wood product shipments to Europe.
“European traders congratulate the government of Indonesia and the European Commission on their progress, which will make it easier for companies to be sure of the legality of products they buy from Indonesia,” said Andre De Boer, secretary-general for European Timber Trade Federation.
“This regulation will support our quest for a level playing field in the market, encouraging buyers to purchase legal and sustainable timber, and therefore supporting producers who act responsibly.”
Indonesia is also the first Asian country to conclude such an agreement. Crucially, Indonesia’s timber industry came out in support of a VPA in March.
Indonesian forestry minister Zulkifli Hasan called the agreement a significant breakthrough, the culmination of four years of negotiations.
It is being seen as part of the growing impact of new laws in the EU and US (illegal timber regulation and US Lacey Act amendment respectively), with timber-producing countries coming under pressure to ensure only legal wood is exported if they want to continue their export business.
A new timber legality verification system forms the backbone of the agreement. So far, 13 auditing companies have verified legal production from 1.1 million ha of forest and 51 factories.
The VPA’s ratification will take about nine months, with full implementation by March 2013.
NGOs said they were “cautiously optimistic” about the impact of the agreement on illegal logging in Indonesia, noting that success would rest on the quality and transparency of the auditing system, and whether penalties were applied in a meaningful way.
The Indonesian VPA follows other bilateral agreements the EU has signed with timber-exporting countries in Africa, starting with Ghana, Cameroon, Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.
