The Indonesian Furniture and Craft Association (HIMKI) Chairman has urged the government to conduct a review of the VPA/FLEGT Agreement with the EU because, he says, it is undermining the efforts of association members to increase exports.

To back this up he said exports by members of the association had dropped 15-20% since the Agreement was ratified.

The main problem he pointed out was that most of the members of the association are SMEs and they cannot cope with the numerous procedures and requirements to satisfy the SVLK and the demands from overseas buyers.

This has given a competitive advantage to exporters in neighbouring countries which do not have timber legality verification systems like Indonesia.

In related news, Muhammad Hidjrah Saputra a board member of HIMKI DPD Cirebon, has suggested that legality verification of upstream producers should be sufficient and asks why downstream manufacturers also have to be certified if they utilise timber from certified millers. He said the current system is adding unnecessary costs and hindering export competitiveness.