Importers of timber and wood-based products need to be aware of two notices issued by DOA. The first is 1/2016 – “Extension of the illegal logging ‘soft-start’ compliance period;”
The second is 2/2016 – “Re-endorsement of PEFC Russian National Forest Certification Scheme.”
Notice 1/2016 (In brief)
Importers of timber and wood-based products into Australia and processors of domestically grown raw logs have been required to undertake ‘due diligence’. This requirement is set out in the Illegal Logging Prohibition Regulation 2012 and requires the regulated party to assess and minimise the risk that the wood, pulp, or paper in these products has been illegally logged. DOA initially announced an 18 month ‘soft-start’ compliance period, to run from 30 November 2014 to 30 May 2016. During this period, the department has not issued penalties to businesses found to be not fully compliant with the due diligence requirements.
On 25 February 2016, the government released the final report of the KPMG led “Independent review of the impact of the illegal logging regulations on small business,†proposing a package of regulatory and non-regulatory reforms to minimise the costs of complying with the Regulation. In light of this process, the department has decided to extend the initial ‘soft-start’ compliance period until any amendments from the KPMG review have been finalised, which will probably be until late 2016 or early 2017.
Notice 2/2016 (In Brief)
This notice affects importers of regulated timber products from Russia, who rely on Russian PEFC certification to demonstrate compliance with Australia’s illegal logging legislation. Under the Illegal Logging Prohibition Regulation 2012, importers can assess that the risk of the timber having been illegally logged is low, if the product is PEFC certified.
PEFC International had previously ceased to recognise certificates issued under Russia’s National Forest Certification Scheme in September 2015. Russia has now successfully achieved PEFC re-endorsement of its national forest certification system, and all certificates issued by them as from February 19 2016 are recognised by PEFC as valid, so they can be used when undertaking due diligence for the purposes of complying with the regulation.
To read the full text, go to:
http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging/compliance/can/2016
