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Taking legal action against illegal logging

By Julie Bishop - posted Thursday, 5 April 2012


Illegal logging is an international problem that has serious implications for environmental management and for the economies of developing countries in particular.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that in some developing countries up to 70 per cent of timber is illegally logged, with a loss in revenue and capital of more than $20 billion per year.

The destruction of tropical rainforests in particular from illegal logging is a cause of global concern with large quantities reported to have been stripped from environmentally sensitive areas in the Amazon river basin, Madagascar and many other nations either side of the Equator.

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Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry estimates that approximately 10 per cent of the total timber product imports (valued at more than $4 billion) into Australia are at risk of being illegally logged.

One of the challenges for law enforcement authorities is that once the timber has been processed into furniture, paper or building materials for example, it can be very difficult to establish the original source of the timber used.

A significant international effort to stamp out illegal logging has been under way for decades, with mixed results as corruption and criminal networks have undermined this work.

There is universal agreement across the political spectrum in Australia that illegal logging is a scourge that must be minimised as much as possible.

However, it is important that any actions are within the rules of the global trading environment to avoid accusations of trade protectionism and potential expensive legal action through the World Trade Organisation.

In the last sitting week of Parliament, the Coalition successfully forced the Government to postpone the parliamentary debate on its Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill and refer it to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade committee for detailed examination.

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While the Coalition in-principle supports legislation to prohibit the importation of illegally logged timber or products manufactured from illegally logged timber we have been alarmed at the cavalier way in which the Government has been dealing with this important trade issue.

It is concerning that the Minister with responsibility for this legislation is none other than Senator Joe Ludwig, who is best known for his catastrophic mismanagement of the live cattle trade to Indonesia that has halved the value of that trade.

His panicked response to video footage collected by animal rights activists and broadcast on Four Corners does little to inspire confidence in his judgement.

The Gillard Government's coalition partner in government - The Greens - played a significant role in pressuring the government to temporarily ban the live cattle trade and there is concern about the level of Greens involvement in the Illegal Logging Bill.

These concerns were heightened by the Government's attempt to legislate a framework and then spend two years developing regulations that will ultimately decide how the laws are imposed.

According to the Government the Bill provides for: “A prohibition on illegally logged and timber and wood products (with an additional prohibition on the processing of illegally processed raw logs); and “a requirement for industry to carry out due diligence to mitigate the risk of importing illegal logged timber in Australia”.

That is all well and good, however there are major questions about the compatibility of this legislation with World Trade Organisation rules.

There are also serious concerns about the appalling lack of consultation with trading partners that mirrors the same lack of consultation during the live cattle export ban.

A number of nations have raised serious concerns about the legislation as it is currently drafted, Canada and Indonesia in particular.

When this legislation went before the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee, the Indonesian Government submission to that inquiry raised some serious issues.

The Indonesian Minister for Trade has said that the Indonesian Government: “regrets that our cooperation has not been sought to date on the best means to address the aims set out”. He has also said that legal advice indicates: “the measures proposed in the Bill are inconsistent with the multilateral obligations of Australia under the World Trade Organisation.”

In submissions to the Senate inquiry the Canadian and New Zealand Governments also strongly criticised the legislation.

Further, well known authority on WTO matters and former Ambassador to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, Alan Oxley, made a submission to the Senate inquiry in which he notes that the Bill may contravene WTO rules and the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. 

Additionally, the Australian timber industry has expressed concern about the red tape burden of this legislation.

One of the most concerning aspects of this process has been that the Minister for Trade Craig Emerson has been missing in action and utterly silent about this Bill.

Mr Emerson is usually the first person out of the blocks when he believes the Coalition or anyone in industry is proposing actions that potentially contravene WTO rules but has been uncharacteristically mute on the WTO implications of this Bill.

It is to be hoped that Mr Emerson directs his Department to make a submission to the inquiry of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade committee or gives a personal briefing to the committee about the implications of this bill.

While it is important that developed and developing countries take steps to reduce illegal logging, it is also important that this is done within an international framework and in consultation with other nations, or the government risks being accused of tilting at windmills.

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About the Author

Julie Bishop is the Federal Member for Curtin, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs.

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