T

he government is considering exempting timber-processing industries, including furniture makers, from the requirement to arrange certification stating local timber is being used as a raw material.

'€œThey are mostly small and medium enterprises [SMEs] and timber users. It should be the suppliers'€™ duty to ensure the timber being used satisfies the existing certification system,'€ the Trade Ministry'€™s secretary general, Gunaryo, told reporters at his office on Friday, referring to the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) slated to become effective on Jan. 1 2015.

Gunaryo said that the certification would only be mandatory for timber producers and suppliers.

Indonesia, one of the world'€™s largest timber producers, has come a long way in the fight against rampant illegal logging. Home to the world'€™s third largest tropical rain forest after the Amazon and Congo basins, it has drawn intensive scrutiny from global environmental groups as illegal logging has caused not only massive deforestation but also losses in biodiversity and harmful smog generated by the burning of vegetation that often spreads to neighboring countries.

The government introduced in 2003 the SVLK certification to ensure the legality of traded timber. The SVLK became mandatory in 2010 and is part of the war against illegal loggers.

After long negotiations, the system has received acknowledgement from one of its major buyers, the European Union (EU), which earlier this year ratified the EU-Indonesia Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) voluntary partnership agreement.

The deal recognizes that whole SVLK-certified timber and timber products are legally harvested and comply with the EU'€™s timber regulation.

The previous administration had boasted a double-digit growth rate in timber exports to the 28-member bloc this year.

Last year, Indonesia'€™s timber shipments to the EU reached US$1 billion, accounting for one-tenth of its overall timber exports.

However, the mandatory application of the system has drawn recurrent criticisms domestically, particularly as small and medium firms cannot quickly fulfill the obligation.

Only 637 firms out of 3,500 SMEs producing timber and timber products were certified as of the beginning of this year, according to statistics issued by the Indonesia Rattan Furniture and Craft Association (AMKRI) and referred to by the Trade Ministry.

The ministry decided to delay implementation for the SMEs until early 2015. But inching toward the deadline, the business group once again demanded another delay.

Newly installed Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel, who is also a member of AMKRI'€™s consultative council, has bowed to this demand, extending the deadline to next year.

AMKRI chairman Soenoto welcomed the government'€™s move to limit the certification to timber suppliers and the delay of its execution, saying this would lift a burden on SMEs. He said that the complicated and lengthy process even made some buyers threaten to shift purchase orders to neighboring countries in Southeast Asia.