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The Government is working on measures to address the trade in illegally logged timber, but says an outright ban is difficult to impose.
New Zealand imports only small amounts of wood products, but does import kwila, which is used for decking and outdoor furniture.
The Green Party has said that nearly all of New Zealand's tropical kwila timber imports come from dwindling forests in Papua New Guinea and Indonesian-run Papua.
The World Bank had reported 70 to 80 per cent of such logging was illegal, it said.
Forestry Minister Jim Anderton said yesterday that the Cabinet had agreed in principle to mandatory labelling of all kwila products sold in New Zealand at the point of sale to indicate whether the supplier had verification of the legality of the wood.
The Australian Government had proposed similar measures.
Mr Anderton said he would report back to the Cabinet in July on the feasibility and practicality of implementing such labelling, with a view to developing transtasman rules.
He said verifying at the border whether wood products were legally logged was not straightforward and even if documentation was supplied, verifying its authenticity was not easy.
"Imposing a ban on illegal timber would be impractical and ineffective if it was not backed up by reliable traceability and verification systems involving exporting countries."
For this reason, New Zealand needed to develop co-operative mechanisms with trading partners to prevent illegally logged wood being exported to New Zealand, he said.
Mr Anderton said he would be discussing such agreements with ministers in the Asia Pacific region over the next two months.
He and Australian Forestry Minister Tony Burke had agreed to work together to tackle the issue.
But Mr Anderton said consumers should also be asking for information on the timber products they were thinking of buying, particularly outdoor furniture, to see if it was made from legally obtained timber.
He also said New Zealand was working with other countries to address the issue, and international action would include:
* The development of financial mechanisms to assist developing countries to reduce deforestation.
* Commissioning research on steps to address international trade in illegally logged wood.
* Engagement at ministerial level with countries from which there is a risk illegally logged wood could be exported to New Zealand.
New Zealand would support efforts to have kwila listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Green Party co-leader Russel Norman said action was needed, not vague promises. He said Labour had promised six years ago to clamp down on illegal timber imports, but since then importation of kwila is thought to have soared.
Dr Norman said mandatory labelling was a great idea but labelling and an education campaign seemed to be reliant on yet more talk.
- NZPA
