Indonesia takes measures to block timber smuggling
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, February 16, 2003
Jakarta, Indonesia — In a move to prevent timber smuggling, the government of Indonesia is requiring the registration of all wood-products exporters, including furniture manufacturers.
M. Djalal Kamal, chairman of Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicraft Assn., or ASMINDO, welcomed the move as a way to boost the competitiveness of Indonesian furniture products in the international market.
Kamal said rampant smuggling of products such as sawn timber, molding and rattan is reducing competitiveness, with the smuggled materials used to produce cheaper furniture in countries such as Vietnam and China.
Under the new regulations, all wood-product exporters register in their respective industry associations. The associations then identify the exporters to a newly formed agency, the Indonesian Forestry Industry Revitalization Body, or BRIK, which approves exports.
"As ASMINDO chairman, I promise that this mechanism will not create new bureaucracy to exporters," said Kamal, who also is a member of BRIK.
By allowing exports only by registered exporters, the Indonesian government, through BRIK, expects to better monitor the use of raw materials, especially timber, and to control the flow of timber from the country's damaged forests.
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