Indonesian Action Plan Takes Off
23 July 2003

Following the publication (1 July 2003) of the Timber Trade Federation's ten-point action plan to promote legal and sustainable timber from Indonesia the planned scoping study into the feasibility of setting up third party auditing of Indonesian mills has been agreed.

The project has been awarded to the non-profit making Tropical Forest Trust which, will investigate the current and future state of legality of existing and potential mills supplying the UK market.

TTF Issue Warning Not To Abandon Indonesia
21 July 2003

The Timber Trade Federation today (Monday 21 July 2003) issued a warning not to abandon trading with Indonesia and called on all interested parties to remain positively engaged in the Indonesian marketplace as the only way to make the forest products sector sustainable in the long run.

Responding to Greenpeace activity at Tilbury this morning when NGO activists branded pallets of Indonesian plywood to highlight the difficulties faced by Indonesia's forestry sector, the TTF immediately rejected any suggestion of supporting a boycott of Indonesian plywood.

Mark O'Brien, a spokesman for the TTF said, " It is only by continuing to trade with Indonesia, through exerting market pressure on the mills that we can have any hope of putting Indonesian forestry on a sustainable footing.

That is why we launched our own ten-point action plan earlier this month outlining the steps that Federation Members are going to take in the coming months. It is hoped that through a scoping study independent third party auditing of legality can eventually be established.

To boycott Indonesian plywood would not only do nothing to help the future of the Indonesian forestry sector but would actually make the situation worse by leading to less environmentally sensitive markets filling the gap left by the UK.

With only 4% of the Indonesian yield coming into the UK we are a relatively small part of this market, but the UK timber trade is determined to play its part in tackling these problems. This is why the trade has developed its action plan as part of its positive response to this challenging and complex situation "

For further information contact Mark O'Brien or call on 020 7839 1891

TTF Call For More Trade Input into EU Action Plan
15 July 2003

The Timber Trade Federation has attended a meeting at the European Commission to discuss the EU Action Plan on Illegal Logging where they called for the setting up of an Industry Working Group to follow the action plan and to allow member states to engage more effectively in the process.

The industry was broadly supportive of the Action Plan but had concerns over implementation, discrimination against timber or certain supplier countries and the erecting of barriers against trade.

The Commission promised to consider these points further and consult systematically with the trade in the future. The Action Plan will now be discussed in working groups in the European Council and in the European Parliament with a response expected in autumn.

The TTF delegation consisted of Andy Roby and Ita Rugge who presented on the changing UK market for timber and the UK trade's response to illegal logging. The TTF were represented under the aegis of the UCBD (European Hardwood Federation).

For Further information email Andy Roby or Ita Rugge

Sourcing Legal Timber from Indonesia
14 July 2003

Following the Timber Trade Federation's launch of its Ten Point Plan for Indonesia following its 4th June multi-stakeholder meeting, a second meeting was held to review progress with the initiative (Monday 7 July 2003).

The aim of the Ten Point Plan is to secure third party audited legal timber from Indonesia. The way to achieve this is by establishing a common procurement policy for the buying group, including auditing procedures for third party verification of legality.

The TTF has made good progress with the Ten Point Plan notably on the Scoping Study, which is intended to explore the current state of legality of mills supplying the UK, explore a common auditing framework, establish funding and develop options for UK traders.

The Tropical Forest Trust has been selected to carry out the scoping study and initially ten mills will be assessed.

Preliminary enquiries have demonstrated a great willingness to respond to changing market conditions in the UK and adopt third party auditing.

A spokesman for the TTF, Mark O'Brien said, " This is further evidence of the gradual improvement that we hope will be achieved with Indonesian suppliers through the influence of market pressure."

For further information contact Andy Roby or tel 020 78391891

Buying Time For Forests: Timber Trade And Public Procurement - Government Response
10 July 2003

The Timber Trade Federation today welcomed the Government's response to the above EAC Report (Environmental Audit Committee), particularly the emphasis on the favourable environmental profile of wood products from sustainable forests and the need to prevent procurement from disadvantaging timber against less environmentally desirable materials.

The Federation commends support for a Central Point of Expertise to offer procurement officers consistent and objective advice and to prevent less environmentally friendly materials across the life cycle from being chosen.

The Federation also welcomes the admission by Government that creating and implementing a fair and coherent procurement policy was more challenging than at first anticipated and it will be calling on the Government to exercise caution on its emphasis on the demand for independent verification of timber before the market is capable of responding.

The Government's support for bringing stakeholders together in this process has been widely welcomed and the Federation will continue to play an active role in making sure the voice of the timber industry is heard.

Timber Trade Federation RE-Elect Executive Team
8 July 2003

The Timber Trade Federation has re-elected its team of office bearers at its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 2 July 2003.

Geoff Rhodes (Weyerhaeuser-Europe Ldt) was re-elected President, John Tong (Finnforest UK) was re-elected Vice- President and Charles Sherborne (Sydenhams) was re-elected Honorary Treasurer. Paul Martin was confirmed as Director-General.

Geoff Rhodes said, " Since the last AGM of the Federation held in September much has been achieved and a very positive mood towards the Federation appears to be gaining momentum.

For all companies that join a trade association, such as the TTF, there is an admission that there are issues and problems (common to our interest) with which individual companies cannot deal and being a Member of our Federation is a real recognition that there is a bigger picture.

I would like to record my thanks to the Governing Board, Paul Martin and all his team at Clareville House and I am now looking forward to next twelve months of positive achievement with the support of the membership."

Indonesian Action Plan Published
1July 2003

The Timber Trade Federation has published a ten-point action plan to promote the sourcing of legal and sustainable timber from Indonesia. This follows a landmark meeting earlier in June, which brought together for the first time a range of stakeholders including business, NGOs and government (1).

Only 4% of the Indonesian plywood exports is imported to the UK compared to 75%, which is exported to Japan and China but the Timber Trade Federation is determined to play its part in securing Indonesia's most important natural resource.

The approach preferred by the UK timber trade is to purchase from mills that can effectively separate streams of known, legal timber from unknown and potentially illegal timber, through certified chain of custody systems and to work closely with those mills to eventually eliminate all timber of unknown or dubious origin from their operation.

The immediate objective of the action plan is to secure third party audited legal timber for the UK market with the ultimate objective of sourcing certified sustainable timber. The aim is identify mills which are most likely to reach sustainability and which in the short term can supply the UK market with legal material.

It is hoped that the action plan will help to develop a common procurement policy that establishes third party auditing by individual members of their supply chains and a time frame for a step-wise approach to achieving full certification.

The action plan consists of the following:

• Draw up a shortlist of mills supplying the UK.
• Extend the membership of the Indonesia Buyers Group to cover all UK TTF traders with Indonesia.
• Write to all major mills supplying the UK describing the evolving UK market and the TTF's approach to tackling illegal logging.
• Write to the Indonesian Plywood Industry Association (APKINDO) and the Indonesian Forestry Ministry to obtain more information regarding BRIK - the joint industry/government initiative and targets.
• Set up a scoping study to develop a set of options and explore the feasibility of third party auditing for Indonesia Buyers Group.
• Work with Tropical Forest Trust on finalising a buyer power study to explore leverage of the UK and other markets on Indonesia.
• Hold another meeting of the Indonesia Buyers Group (7 July)
• TTF delegation to visit Indonesia by the end of the year.
• Promote a common procurement approach to other European markets.
• Keep informed on developments in Indonesia.

It is the objective of the action plan and the work of the Indonesia Buyers Group to maximise the influence on Indonesian suppliers, to achieve supplies of legal and ultimately sustainable timber and timber products and to help to play a part in securing the future of Indonesia's forest sector.

For further information contact Andy Roby Tel: 020 7839 1891.