New Zealand policy to address illegal logging and associated trade

Domestic and international work programme

In November 2006 Cabinet adopted a New Zealand policy to address illegal logging and associated trade. This included five overarching goals. Specific actions resulting from this decision include:

  • the establishment of the MAF illegal logging website as a resource;
  • stakeholder consultation, including workshops on developing approaches to address the sale of illegally sourced timber;
  • ongoing implementation of the Timber and Wood Products Procurement Policy requiring government departments to seek legally sourced timber and wood products including paper;
  • economic research to understand the impact of global trade in illegal wood on New Zealand wood producers; and
  • research on domestic policy options to address the sale of illegally sourced timber in New Zealand.

Following on from this in May 2008 Cabinet agreed to a number of international and domestic actions aimed at addressing illegal logging. The three priority areas for policy approaches listed below focus on kwila or merbau which was identified as the main species of potentially illegally sourced timber and wood products entering New Zealand.

The three priority areas of policy approaches are:

  • ministerial-level bilateral engagement with selected key countries with the aim of discussing bilateral mechanisms to prevent illegally logged kwila/merbau entering New Zealand;
  • investigation of the feasibility and practicality of introducing mandatory labelling at the point of sale of all kwila/merbau products sold in New Zealand requiring disclosure of species and whether the supplier has verification of the legality of the wood; and
  • a consumer awareness campaign focusing on illegally logged kwila/merbau and the development of a voluntary pan-industry code of practice to encourage verification of the legality of kwila/merbau imports.

In addition Cabinet agreed to other measures considered as part of the longer term international strategy to be pursued over the next 12 months including:

  • active support and advocacy for regional and multilateral solutions to address the trade in illegal wood products;
  • commissioning research to assess what further steps can be taken at a global level or by countries to effectively address international trade in illegal wood;
  • supporting efforts to have kwila/merbau listed in under the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES);
  • participating in key multilateral fora addressing issues directly relating to illegal logging; and
  • engagement with the wider New Zealand forestry sector to elicit their support and involvement in progressing this strategy.

Progress has been made in the priority areas and in the longer term international strategy.

Ministerial bilateral engagement

With regard to ministerial engagement, the Minister of Forestry met with counterparts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to discuss the possibility of bilateral mechanisms to prevent illegally sourced wood products entering New Zealand. In the context of the bilaterals the Minister briefed his counterparts on New Zealand’s planned domestic approaches, sought high level commitment to bilateral development of mechanisms to address illegal logging, sought support for a CITES listing for kwila/merbau and discussed possible regional initiatives e.g. re-energising the East Asia Pacific Forestry Law Enforcement and Governance (EAP FLEG) process. Officials have now begun follow up actions resulting from the bilateral discussions and work in these areas will be progressed in coming months.

The Minister of Forestry has also discussed New Zealand’s policy approaches with the Australian Minister of Forestry and at the CER Ministerial Meeting held in August 2008, the Ministers welcomed the close dialogue underway around initiatives to counter illegal logging in the region and agreed to deepen the engagement between the two countries on the issue.

Mandatory provision of information at the point of sale regarding the legality of kwila/merbau timber and timber products

In October 2008, Cabinet decided to introduce a new requirement for all sellers of kwila/merbau to clearly display whether they have information about the legality of the timber and timber products from a legality certification or verification scheme which is recognised by the New Zealand Government.

The labelling requirements will apply only to kwila/merbau timber and timber products - not to other timber species. The policy is intended to enable informed consumer choice and will not preclude the importation or sale of kwila/merbau that is not accompanied by evidence of legality.

It is expected that the mandatory labelling scheme will be formally introduced in around two years’ time – the time needed to develop and implement the policy. From that time all kwila/merbau timber and timber products sold must indicate whether they are accompanied by documentation from a legality certification or verification scheme recognised by the Government of New Zealand. However, there is no immediate change in the requirements for exporting kwila/merbau timber to or selling kwila/merbau timber in New Zealand.

The New Zealand Government will develop a set of objective criteria against which legality certification/verification schemes will then be assessed. Stakeholders and trading partners will be consulted on these criteria as the policy is developed.

Consumer awareness

MAF has been tasked with raising consumer awareness about the legality issues associated with kwila/merbau timber and timber products. As part of this work, MAF will focus on educating household and industry consumers about the kind of products that can contain illegally-logged timber and how they can buy responsibly.

International strategy

Progress made on the longer term international strategy progress since May includes:

  • highlighting New Zealand’s interest in revitalising the EAP FLEG process to encourage enhanced multilateral cooperation and action on illegal logging in the region;
  • contributing funding to two International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) projects focusing on law enforcement and trade in CITES-listed timber species;
  • engaging with key producer and consumer countries on the sidelines of international forestry meetings;
  • tendering research to assess steps that can be taken at the global level to effectively address international trade in illegal wood and research to substantiate a proposal for an Appendix II CITES listing for kwila/merbau; and
  • engaging with stakeholders on domestic policy development.

Work will continue in all these areas and this page will be updated with progress as appropriate.

Last updated: 18 November 2008

Contact for Enquiries

Senior Policy Analyst
International Policy
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND

Phone: +64 4 894 0650
Fax: +64 4 894 0742

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