TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Starting from June 25, 2002, the Malaysian government, through its Ministry of Primary Industries, has banned all import logs from Indonesia. “The Malaysian government made this decision so as to lessen the negative perception on Malaysian wood industries,” Indonesian Ministry of Forestry spokesperson Koes Sapariadi said in a press release received by Tempo News Room in Jakarta on Saturday (29/6). All this time, Koes said, Malaysian wood industries have been allegedly involved in the smuggling of illegal logs from Indonesia. Such allegations are considered seriously as it might endanger the export of Malaysian wood products abroad. By banning log imports from Indonesia, the Malaysian government can guarantee that the products’ raw materials are legal. The Indonesian government, through a joint decision of Minister of Forestry and Ministry of Trade and Industry dated October 8, 2001, and Government Regulation (PP) number 34 of 2002 on Forest Management and Use, has banned the export of logs and wood chips. The Indonesian government hopes that the efforts to eradicate the illegal log trade and illegal trans-border trade can be carried out more effectively following the positive response made by the Malaysian government. “We hope other countries, that make the use of illegal logs from Indonesia, will also do the same,” Koes said. (Sapto Pradityo-TNR)
