Beijing, China, February, 22--A Chinese timber distribution official on Tuesday rejected a report by overseas environmental groups that claims to expose the rampant smuggling of illegally-logged hardwood from Indonesia to China, according to Kyodo News.
China does not import timber from Indonesia as alleged last Thursday by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency and Jakarta-based Telapak Indonesia, said a China Timber Distribution Association official.
The official, who identified himself only by his surname Xu, said China has not imported Indonesian timber "for a long time."
The report by Environmental Investigation Agency and Telapak charges that China has become "the largest buyer of stolen timber in the world," with as much as 44 percent of imports estimated to have been felled illegally at source.
It says international criminal syndicates are behind the massive looting of merbau, a valuable hardwood used for flooring, which is being smuggled out of Indonesia's Papua Province at a rate of around 300,000 cubic meters per month to feed China's timber processing industry.
The logs go through agents in Jakarta, Singapore and Hong Kong to Chinese seaports like Zhangjiagang, near Shanghai, where they are cleared through customs using false Malaysian paperwork to disguise their true origin, the environmental groups alleged.
Much of the smuggled hardwood ends up in factories in Nanxun, a city near Shanghai famous for hardwood flooring, the report says.
In December 2002, the governments of Indonesia and China signed a memorandum of understanding to combat illegal trade in forest products, but according to the EIA's Julian Newman, "So far these words have not been matched by actions."
"The smuggling of merbau logs between Indonesia and China violates the laws of both countries, so there is a clear basis for action," Newman was quoted as saying in a press release. "Concerted effort by both governments is needed to put the smuggling syndicates out of business."
The report says China's log imports have risen from 1 million cubic meters in 1997 to 16 million cubic meters in 2002, and by 2010 they are projected to reach 100 million cubic meters.
The China Timber Distribution Association, a market research and industry interest group overseen by the Economic and Trade Committee of the State Council, said China imports timber from North America and Europe, including Russia, as well as from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Myanmar.
"There's not too much illegal wood being shipped," Xu said.
