"Currently, they do not have it (SVLK), but they have approached us to gain an understanding of the system as they will not be able to sell their timber in the European Union market," Director General of Sustainable Forest Management of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Ida Bagus Putra Parthama stated here on Monday.
Putra noted that the three countries are currently planning to send their representatives to Indonesia to study the system or invite our representatives to each country to provide information about the system.
However, Indonesia itself does not require the inclusion of V-legal documents for the export of its forestry industry products that are included in group B, but it must be accompanied by documents, which could prove that the raw materials for making these products are derived from raw material providers that possess the Timber Legality Certificate (S-LK).
Putra pointed out that illegal timber continues to circulate in Indonesia. Meanwhile, the SVLK is still inadequate if it is only applied on timber derived from the upstream areas.
"The timber material for the furniture industry can come from anywhere and not only from the upstream areas (for SVLK) as illegal timber is still rampantly circulating in the country. Later, we will urge the minister for economic affairs to bridge it," Putra remarked.
According to the regulation, the forestry industry products categorized under group B comprise wooden furniture, utensils, and wooden frames.
The V-legal documents certify that the timber products have met the SVLK standards in accordance with the statutory provisions.
With regard to group A, timber products shall be equipped with V-legal documents published by the Timber Legality Verification Agency (LVLK).
Forestry industry products that are classified under group A are in the form of raw materials, such as wood chips, wood veneer sheets, particle board, wood pulp, paper and paperboard, as well as plywood.
The new regulation is one instance of the deregulation package and de-bureaucratization of Indonesian trade, which is the next step to be taken by the government after the recent release of the phase I of the economic policy package in September 2015. (*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
