Jakarta (VNA) - Indonesia and the UN Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO) renewed cooperation in support of forestgovernance and timber legality, according to a recently-released pressstatement quoted by ANTARA News.

According to the statement, the Indonesian Ministry ofEnvironment and Forestry is teaming up with the FAO to support localstakeholders to strengthen implementation of the national timber legalityassurance system (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu-SVLK), which forms thebackbone of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between Indonesia and theEuropean Union (EU).

The SVLK is Indonesia`s national system providing assurancethat timber harvested from natural production forests, industrial plantations,household-managed small-scale plantations or imported was legal.

A collaboration agreement for the FAO-EU Forest LawEnforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) programme was re-signed on May 24 bythe Director of Forest Product Processing and Marketing, Ministry ofEnvironment and Forestry, Rufi`ie, and the FAO Representative in Indonesia,Stephen Rudgard.

The agreement outlined how grants would be made available tofinance initiatives from government institutions, private sector associationsand civil society organisations that would support and further strengthen theimplementation of the SVLK.

"The agreement will provide a legal basis for cooperationin strengthening the capacity of respective stakeholders in the implementationof the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System (SVLK) and the FLEGT VPAbetween Indonesia and the European Union," said Rufi`ie.

He also stated that it would ensure capacity building for allstakeholders, especially the small and medium enterprises.

Indonesia is one of the world`s largest exporters of a widevariety of tropical wood products ranging from plywood, pulp and paper tofurniture and handicrafts with 10.935 billion USD worth of trade in 2017.

Indonesia was the first country in the world tooperationalise its VPA and had issued more than 61,000 FLEGT licences since November2016 for shipments to the 28 EU member states, with a total value of more than 1.8billion USD.

EU operators importing FLEGT-licensed timber automaticallycomply with the EU Timber Regulation creating a "green lane" forIndonesian timber entering the European Union.

"With EU support, the FAO is working with nationalauthorities in timber-producing countries such as Indonesia, as well as withinternational and local partners, to demonstrate the legality of timber anddevelop the legal trade in timber with EU and other consumer countries,"said Rugard.

The FLEGT Action Plan was approved by the European Commission in2003, with the main objective of encouraging sustainable forest management.-VNA