Indonesia signs FLEGT VPA agreement

But there is scepticism over whether the country will deliver FLEGT-licensed timber (which will automatically satisfy the legality requirements of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) as soon as it forecasts.

The VPA was signed in Brussels by Indonesian forestry minister Zulkifli Hasan and EU environment commissioner Janez Potocnik. It marked the culmination to date of the country's work to establish timber and forestry legality guarantees to satisfy the demands of the FLEGT. This has included creating an Indonesian definition of timber legality and a legality assurance system (LAS) and associated licensing, auditing and monitoring mechanisms. And the process has had to involve as wide a range of stakeholders as possible from government, industry and civil society.

To date, Indonesia's LAS, called its SVLK system, has audited 19 million ha of production forest and 700 timber processing companies. It has also sent trial shipments of timber licensed under its V-legal system as a test bed for the eventual issuing and management of FLEGT licences.

The Indonesian EU ambassador said that the country aims to start delivering FLEGT-licensed timber in January. However, EU trade sources raise doubts over this. Question were also asked as to whether the range of products shipped under the test V-legal scheme would qualify immediately for FLEGT. The view is that they won't.

EU officials also stressed that there is still a lot of work to be done before the arrival of Indonesian FLEGT-licensed timber in European ports. The VPA has first to be ratified under EU and Indonesian law and both have to be satisfied the LAS is operating effectively.

NGOs also welcomed Indonesia's VPA signing, but said they would keep it under scrutiny. The Environmental Investigation Agency said successful completion of the FLEGT process would "test the resolve" of the Indonesian government in tackling timber sector corruption.

Greenpeace Indonesia said the government still had to work to prove the credibility of legality standard. "It must take steps to improve enforcement such as prohibiting forest conversion for industrial timber plantations and ensuring transparency," it said.

Flegt licence urgency

UK Timber Trade Federation head of sustainability Anand Punja said the VPA signing was an important political milestone for Indonesia and the EU.

'What's different about this signing compared with others is that things on the ground are seemingly progressing well with Indonesia's TLAS-the SVLK," he said.

" I am hoping that this signing can be quickly followed by actual FLEGT licensed timber arriving here in the UK. I would urge all necessary parties to ensure this happens soon, so that this positive momentum is not lost. Indeed, should this happen relatively quickly I am optimistic that this could stimulate other VPA countries to re-invigorate their own negotiations and processes, giving the VPA's a much needed positive stimulus."