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Extracted from Malaysiakini.com
Illegal timber trade: 'Engage stakeholders'
Fauwaz Abdul Aziz
Jan 16,
Engaging all social and
environmental stakeholders should be a central and permanent feature of the
Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) that the European Union (EU) is
negotiating with
This was among points raised by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for
environmental issues and indigenous peoples’ rights. They held a closed-door
meeting yesterday with EU officials at the European Commission’s (EC)
representative office in
The VPA is part of the EU
Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade initiative. Malaysian agreed last
September to hold formal negotiations toward the bilateral arrangement.
EU negotiators, led by the EC’s Brussels-based international affairs and
environment director Soledad Blanco, are in
Numerous
groups worldwide, however, have criticised the VPA as facilitating timber trade
rather than ensuring environmental and social justice.
The NGOs - loosely grouped under the Network of Indigenous Peoples and NGOs on
Forest Issues (JoangoHutan) and the Indigenous Peoples’ Network of Malaysia
(Joas) - said “full and meaningful engagement” with all stakeholders is
“paramount in establishing an acceptable and credible VPA”.
“It is essential that all social and environmental stakeholders ... become involved
in processes relevant to forest governance and trade, which include areas of
legislative and governance framework, law enforcement and management of
forests,” they said in their presentation.
The EU-Malaysia VPA should not only ensure good governance, transparency,
accountability, but should also tackle weaknesses and injustices of current
laws, policies and forest management, they said further.
The NGO lobby was represented by officials of Sahabat Alam
Sticking points
COAC director Colin Nicholas raised the issue of the process and criteria by
which timber licences and certification are issued, saying these have not been
adequately scrutinised.
“The
current certification process is aimed more at the selling of timber for a
premium rather than the sustainable exploitation and management of forest
resources,” he said when met later.
The process also suffers from lack of independence from the government and is
not subject to independent third-party monitoring, such as by indigenous groups
and other communities, he said.
Other issues were the authorities’ inconsistent recognition and implementation
of Native Customary Rights (NCR), inadequate mechanisms to ensure best practice
in environmental management, and weak enforcement against the import into
CAP legal
advisor Meenakshi Raman said it boils down to the question of what constitutes
‘legal’ as opposed to ‘illegal’ timber.
“Much of the timber in question is legal to the Malaysian government and some
EU countries but not to us, because it was acquired through the violation of
human rights, (for example) as enshrined in the Federal Constitution and in
international law,” she told malaysiakini.
Environmental Impact Assessment reports submitted for development projects do
not, for example, make public participation mandatory, she noted.
EU backing
EU ambassador to Malaysia Thierry Rommel told malaysiakini that the EU concurs
with the NGO call for civil society to be given a permanent role in the VPA, as
well as the need to address the violation of NCR.
“Consultation
with civil society is part and parcel of democracy. The issue of NCR also needs
to be resolved,” he said.
Rommel also said the EU is open to the idea of dialogue with the government to
discuss any changes required to national legislation in order to conform to the
bilateral VPA, when this is finalised.
He said the question of certification and whether current processes and
criteria are adequate, are matters to be raised at the negotiating table.
He noted that the Malaysian Timber Certification Council has been recognised by
the governments of
The EU negotiators will also hold consultations with timber and business
bodies, among other groups, ahead of talks with the government.