The government`s decision follows years of lobbying by furniture manufacturers who complained that obtaining the V-Legal license was expensive, time-consuming and hurting their business. Find a legal Indonesian wood and furniture supplier here. Buy directly from Indonesia. SVLK certification not only ensures that only legal timber is exported from Indonesia, but also effectively manages sustainable forestry practices while reducing illegal logging and trade. The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, through its state-owned company Perum Perhutani, manages its teak forest plantations with agroforestry to ensure biodiversity and bring additional economic benefits to the local economy. SVLK certification is required by law so that Indonesian timber can be exported to many major importing countries for wood products. Herman, the pulp industry representative, agreed that there are „many steps we need to monitor“ to ensure there are no gaps along the supply chain where illegal timber could enter the system. Indonesia and the EU have since negotiated a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) to promote trade in legal timber products and improve forest policy. The VPA process offered significant opportunities to improve the SVLK. „They responded to the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus with an economic stimulus that opens up the illegal timber market,“ he said. „It`s irrational.“ Illegal logging is the harvesting, processing, transport, purchase or sale of timber in violation of national and international laws.
The EU Timber Regulation aims to reduce illegal logging by ensuring that no illegal timber or timber products can be sold in the EU. It was launched as part of the EU`s FLEGT* Action Plan. *SVLK (Sistem Verificasi Legalitas Kayu) is the acronym for Indonesia`s National Timber Legality Verification System, a mandatory legality and sustainability certification system based on a multi-stakeholder national consensus. In 2015, the Ministry of Commerce waived the requirements, but only for small and medium-sized exporters of furniture and handicrafts. After much criticism, including from the EU, he backtracked and reinstated the legal requirement throughout the sector. Laxholm Furniture, with certificate no. VLK 00395, has been certified and meets the requirements of the timber legality verification system. Therefore, with Laxholm`s SVLK certified teak, you can be sure that the furniture you buy is a finely crafted product made from legally and sustainably harvested wood. Since 2001, Indonesia has made great strides in its efforts to eliminate illegal logging, including the development and improvement of a national timber legality system called SVLK*.
Syahrul also questioned the Commerce Department`s reasoning that the SVLK requirement was an unnecessary barrier for companies wishing to export their products to countries without timber legality requirements. This defeats the objective of ensuring that all timber products leaving Indonesia, regardless of their destination, are legal. The Ministry of Environment oversees the timber industry and the SVLK system and has overhauled the certification system to make requirements less onerous for exporters, in response to pressure from HIKMI and others. However, this revision does not call for the elimination of v-legal licenses, Syahrul said. Tuesday Minangsari of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said it was hard to believe the new regulations were really justified in response to the coronavirus outbreak, noting that efforts to exempt furniture manufacturers from the need to obtain V-legal licenses had been underway for years. „Even if you want to export timber to countries like India that don`t require certification, you should still have v-legal documents,“ Syahrul said. „That`s the strength of the SVLK system. We cannot say that the system has really stopped the illegal timber trade, but it has slowed it down. The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry has encouraged the furniture industry to certify the products so that the price and value of the products are competitive because the industry wants to export the products on board. A legality for the furniture industry related to this is known as SVLK (Indonesian legal timber).
Because of this certification, some furniture industries should consider mature solid woods used to make furniture products. However, the application and certification process is quite difficult due to the high price. In addition, certification could protect the tropical natural forest. He added that most furniture manufacturers do not source wood from natural forests, but from state-managed forests, with a low risk of illegal logging. But he said he was even surprised at the scope of the Commerce Department`s regulations, which apply not only to furniture exporters, but to all wood products. Zulfikar Adil, managing director of PT BRIK Quality Services, one of the third-party agencies authorized to issue V-Legal licenses, said a client called him to express confusion about the recent decision. Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said the decision to remove the legal requirement was taken to boost timber exports amid an economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. „With the easing of the [SVLK] policy, it is hoped that exports of Indonesian wood products can increase,“ he said. A key feature of the SVLK system is that it aims to verify the origin of timber at every stage of the supply chain, using independent certification bodies to issue V-legal licenses.
Buyers from importing countries can then trace the origin of each piece of wood on the Indonesian government`s SILK information platform. All timber exporters in Indonesia are currently required to obtain legal V licenses, even if they ship to countries that do not require legal verification of the timber`s origin. As a leading producer of many forest products, the Indonesian government has taken steps to ensure the international market for the legality and sustainability of its timber products through Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu (SVLK) certification, also known as the Indonesian Timber Legality Verification System (INDO-TLAS). Syahrul argued that if the government wants to stimulate the economy through timber exports, it should stop smuggling illegal timber to countries that do not require certification. Syahrul said it was unfortunate that lobbying by a small part of the timber industry had derailed the entire timber legality system that had been built over the course of a decade. It has also caused confusion among companies planning to export their products to countries that require legal certification. Today, 100% of timber from natural forest concessions and plantation concessions is SVLK certified, although a small amount of timber from illegally harvested areas still enters the supply chain. The SVLK system has also helped to improve the reputation of Indonesian timber, which has been known for decades to come largely from illegal logging. In 2016, the European Union, one of the main markets for Indonesian wood and finished wood products, approved the SVLK as the basis for importing timber into its market.
This made Indonesia the first country in the world whose timber legality system was recognised by the EU. Wiradadi Soeprayogo, vice president of HIMKI, acknowledged that HIMKI has been lobbying for four years to exempt furniture exporters from the legal obligation. „This is a step backwards and it could again make the origin of the wood unclear,“ he said. He warned that without certified verification, potential buyers would have every reason to believe that timber now from Indonesia could be illegal, „stolen from Indonesian forests that have been threshed.“ Under new regulations issued by the Ministry of Commerce in February, Indonesian forestry companies are not required to obtain export licenses certifying that the timber comes from legal sources.