A new Senate Committee report highlighting the need for stronger action and tougher reforms to prevent Russian timber products entering Australia has been welcomed by AFPA.
The Senate report featured strong recommendations to combat conflict timber entering Australia, including urging the Federal Government to explore tighter sanctions against Russia and ensure penalties evolve with global developments to keep pace with circumvention efforts.
AFPA Acting CEO Richard Hyett said sanctions had stopped direct imports from Russia but there has been increased timber imports from third countries known to be using Russian fibre.
"Russia has the largest forest estate in the world, and timber is an important economic driver, so it beggars belief that a resource of this scale could simply be turned off and replaced by other sources," Mr Hyett said.
Mr Hyett said recent forensic testing by Source Certain continued to identify Russian fibre in timber products around the world, often with documentation that mislabelled or misrepresented the product's origin.
"Addressing this imports issue is vital for Australia's $6 billion timber manufacturing industry, which supports around 80,000 direct and 100,000 indirect jobs and supplies essential materials for hundreds of thousands of Australian homes every day," Mr Hyett said.
Mr Hyett said stronger testing and enforcement was also needed to protect Australian jobs, manufacturers and consumers while ensuring sanctions against Russian timber were genuinely effective.
"It's time for the Government to act and implement a testing program that can tell Australians what is actually being imported, and not just rely on paperwork from high-risk importers," Mr Hyett said. "We also need to introduce Country of Origin labelling.
"As part of the Senate inquiry, we sincerely thank Senator Raff Ciccone for his support by encouraging producers to seek an Anti-Dumping Commission investigation into Russian timber entering Australian markets. We appreciate Senator Ross Cadell and Senator Susan McDonald for supporting industry and raising serious concerns about the lack of policing of timber imports.
"Enforcing stronger sanctions will ultimately support Australian manufacturers, uphold our international commitments and ensure a level playing field for domestic producers."
