Monday 18 February 2013

Myanmar timbers to be exported to EU earliest June

Timber from Myanmar will be exported to the European Union (EU) starting from June when EU delegates who will visit Myanmar next month may finish observing current timber extraction and set up a frame work for legal trade.
 
Timber needs to be certified before export to the European Union (EU) that it has been legally produced according to the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT).


Myanmar needs to establish timber regulations before signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the EU for timber trade, Barthar Cho, joint secretary of the Myanmar Forest Products and Timber Merchants Association (MFPTMA), said.
 
MFPTMA is now working with the European Timber Trade Federation to establish timber trade with the EU.
 
“To export Myanmar timber to European countries, a certificate will be required for their legal [authentication]. A delegate group from the EU will visit and observe the situation of timber production here,” he said.
 
In fact, Myanmar is a country with most severe forest depletion in the region due to widespread illegal logging throughout the country, according to Win Htun, Minister for Environmental Conservation and Forestry.
 
The EU FLEGT Action Plan, which all members of the EU have agreed to, includes a number of measures to prohibit illegal timber from reaching European markets. Under FLEGT, the EU makes a trade accord called Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with timber exporting countries to ensure a legal timber trade and support good forest governance in partner countries. Timber carrying a FLEGT licence can be traded freely in Europe.
 
“Internationally it is becoming a trend that only legally produced wood is allowed to trade, especially in EU countries. Recently, the sanctions on Myanmar timber was lifted by the US and Western countries. In such times, we need to have a regulatory system to certify our timber,” Barthar Cho said.
 
Currently, a proposal has been sent to the President to form a 17member committee which will issue licences for Myanmar timber, by conducting audits on the Chain of Custody process such as logging, cutting and transporting, to designate wood as legal, he said.
 
source: Eleven Myanmar

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