The Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) dismissed the new claims by environmental groups that authorities here continued to turn a blind eye to the illegal Indonesian timber being traded through local ports.

MTIB said following February's expose that the country's free trade zones (FTZ) facilitated the trade of stolen Indonesian timber, authorities have done their best to ensure that port authorities complied with customs regulations.

However, their actions were limited, because national legislation does not provide authorities the right to seize illegal timber stored in FTZs, it added in a statement, which was made available to malaysiakini .

MTIB, which is the regulating authority on timber trade, also said it needed time to "provide sufficient notice" to port authorities and operators within the port, of the need to comply with administrative regulations (as opposed to legal ones).

'Official sanction'

MTIB was responding to a joint statement by US-based Environmental Investigation Agency and Indonesia's Telapak that Malaysian authorities were 'officially sanctioning' the export of illegal logs from Malaysian ports.

The environmental groups claimed that authorities gave shipping companies a one week grace period to ship contraband cargo found in Malaysian ports to another country.

They said such a move showed that Malaysia was backpedalling on its own ban on round log imports and over-sized 'flitches' or squared logs from Indonesia.

Both bans were instituted in Jan 2001 and June 2002 respectively, following concern by Indonesia that its precious forests were being rapidly destroyed by illegal loggers who used Malaysia as a transit point.

"Clearly the Malaysian authorities would rather break their own laws than punish the Malaysian timber traders who are profiting from the destruction being wreaked on Indonesia's forests", said Telapak's Arbi Valentinus in the statement.

'Grey area'

MTIB admitted it had allowed timber, which contravened the log bans, to be shipped through Malaysian ports.

However, it argued that acting against cargo not listed as a 'prohibited item' under existing custom's regulations put authorities in a legal 'grey area' and opened it to lawsuits.

"If MTIB chose to confiscate the over-sized (flitches), it would be preventing the full consignment from being shipped out and rendering itself liable to legal action.

"The fact of the matter remains that there are at present no laws prohibiting the entry of (uncertified timber), Indonesian logs and over-sized flitches into the FTZ and operators must be given a reasonable time-frame to comply," it said.

In line with this, MTIB said the Johor Port was issued a notice on March 10 to ensure that all timber in the FTZ comply with Malaysia's log bans by April 8.

"Good governance entails that parties affected be given sufficient notice and we expect any other sovereign government facing the same situation would have been subjected to the same notice requirement," it added.

Acted 'too late'

However, EIA-Telapak also laid out a second charge.

In their statement, they said the Malaysian government failed to provide proper warning to destination ports of a specie of tropical wood - banned from export by Indonesia - that is headed their way.

The NGOs argued that the faxes sent by MTIB to inform destination ports about the contraband wood, was "too late" for the authorities in receiving countries to seize the illegal wood.

Such instances "clearly show that Malaysia's promises are not to be trusted," said EIA Forest Campaigner Sam Lawson, "and that it remains open season in Malaysia for the timber smugglers".

The wood is ramin, a blond tropical hardwood which ignited a storm of controversy when EIA-Telapak revealed this year that piles of sawn Indonesian ramin was being kept in Johor Port. The MTIB acted by seizing all 1,636 tonnes of the wood.

Reacting to Lawson's claims, MTIB said while it acted in response to heavy international pressure, it once again found out that it had no legal standing to confiscate the ramin the way it did.

It said the decision to let the ramin pass was made after weighing the legal implications and consulting Indonesian counterparts on the matter.

Measures promised

Under international law, Malaysia is required to ensure that its own legislation allows the authorities to seize cargo that are without valid export documentation.

But since Malaysia does not, the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) recommends that countries unable to seize illegal shipment to at least inform the country of the final destination.

Investigations into illegal shipments have been stepped up in all ports, the MTIB said.

"Malaysia will be taking measures to address the legislative gaps to cater to implementation of her Cites commitments. Bilateral meetings have commenced...new regional initiatives involving Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have been proposed," it promised in its statement.