Government Initiated Shipment Test to Export Certified Timber Product to EU

Kendal, 23 October 2012 – Deputy Minister of Trade RI Bayu Krisnamurthi and a number of senior officers from the Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Forestry today, Tuesday (23/10) witnessed the first official departure of Certified Legal Timber Products from in Kendal, Central Java under the export shipment test. The shipment test is a trial for exporting timber products that are accompanied by V-Legal Documents.

The V-Legal Document is a document to verify the legality of timber products that will soon replace the endorsement mechanism by the Forest Industry Revitalization Agency (BRIK) as one of the required document for export of timber products from Indonesia.

The Deputy Minister of Trade explained that the V-Legal export shipment test is being conducted by 17 registered Indonesian exporters of industrial forest products (“ETPIK-holder”) whose timber products have been verified by a Timber Legality Verification Agency (“LVLK”) as legal and are therefore entitled to get the V-Legal Document as one of the export requirements.

“In this trial, we expect to be able to identify if there are still any weaknesses in the system and address those weaknesses, so that exports of our timber products can go smoothly once the V-Legal Document export requirement comes into force on 1 January 2013. At the same time this export shipment test also shows the readiness of Indonesia to supply Certified Legal Timber Product to world timber markets,” said the Deputy Minister of Trade.

The shipment tests will be conducted from four major Indonesian ports; Belawan Medan, Tanjung Priok Jakarta, Tanjung Emas Semarang and Tanjung Perak Surabaya, with products going to destinations in the EU such as the UK, Netherlands, France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Greece and Cyprus.

The shipment tests will take place from October to November 2012 and involves cooperation between the relevant ministries namely Trade, Forestry, Industry, Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Finance through the Directorate General of Customs and Excise.

The Deputy Minister of Trade also explained that the V-Legal Document as an output of the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK), represents the current efforts by the government of Indonesia to protect the nation’s timber product industry from upstream to downstream so that these products can penetrate the global market easier. By doing the shipment test all the relevant factors that affect the export activities of SVLK Certified Timber Products can be monitored and anticipated.  The SVLK is expected to be the strategic solution to enhance the competitive advantage of Indonesian timber products in the international market and to becoming Indonesia’s contribution to global environmental protection.

Meanwhile, the Director General of Forestry Enterprises, Bambang Hendroyono stated that, to improve forest governance, the Government of Indonesia has made the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) mandatory according to Permenhut No. P.38/Menhut-II/2009 and amended by P.68/Menhut-II/2011 dated 21 December 2011.

“SVLK represents the initiative and commitment of the Government of Indonesia, not because of any instigation or intervention from other countries, but in order to ensure the legality of our own timber products to be marketed in Indonesia and abroad,” said Bambang Hendroyono. Such formal legality aims to increase competitiveness, suppress illegal logging, in a coordinated effort towards achieving the Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), improving public welfare, increasing compliance with applicable regulations, establishing a culture of using legal products, and enhancing the dignity of the nation.

Simultaneously, SVLK also meets the trend in the international timber trade to requires proof of legality, such as the US Lacey Act Amendment, EU’s Timber Regulation, Australia’s Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill and Japan’s Green Konyuho or Goho Wood.  SVLK is the result of a long process of system development since 2003 based on the spirit of Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) after the 2001 Bali Declaration, involving various stakeholders from academia, forest-related business associations, relevant ministries, and NGOs in the making.

The Ministry of Forestry has meanwhile developed the Timber Legality Information Systems (SILK), which provides an online publication of information related to V-Legal Documents.  SILK is connected to the Inatrade system at the Directorate General of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Trade and will also appear under the portal of the Indonesia National Single Window (INSW) in the Directorate General of Customs and Excise in the Ministry of Finance. This system also allows custom authorities at export destinations to obtain assurance or clarification of the V-Legal Document published.

SVLK has received appreciation from the international community, especially the EU which is currently in preparation for the signing of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the Indonesian government, which was already initialed on 4 May 2011 and is scheduled to be signed in February 2013.  With the signing and implementation of the VPA, the V-Legal Document License (or the “FLEGT license”) will accompany any timber products exported from Indonesia and will represent its legal guarantee and ‘green pass’ for entering the EU market especially when the new EU Timber Regulation comes into force on 3 March 2013.

Indonesian Exporters Participating in Shipment Test Run