The negotiations between Indonesia and the European Union to exempt Indonesia’s timber products from a due diligence process at the European market has suffered a setback as the Environment and Forestry Ministry is now mired in a legal dispute.   The ministry’s director general of sustainable forest products management, Ida Bagus Putera Parthama, said on Friday, 10 July 2015, that the recent legal proceedings at the Central Information Commission (KIP), in which the ministry was being sued by Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI) for refusing to release what the ministry deems to be confidential documents, had caused concern among EU members.

“This [legal matter] has a great impact [on our negotiations with the EU]. Our biggest hurdle right now is regarding open data,” he said. “We have to convince [the EU] that we are a country that champions transparency.”

In early May, the KIP issued a verdict in favor of the FWI, saying that the ministry must comply with the decision and immediately submit the requested data.

The four types of documents requested are the Timber Usage Working Plan (RKUPHHK), the Annual Timber Usage Working Plan (RKTUPHHK), the Industrial Material Fulfillment Plan (RPBBI) for volumes of more than 6 000 square meters and the Timber Exploitation Permits (IPK).  The four documents are required to be disclosed to the public by the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) — signed by the Indonesian government and the EU — as one of the conditions for the EU to accept legal timber from Indonesia. The agreement was ratified by Presidential Decree No. 21/2014.

Putera said that the ministry was not trying to hide details from the deal with its refusal to make the documents public. “For them to monitor [the implementation of the VPA], they need data. That’s not a problem for us. It’s just that sometimes they ask for data that is beyond what is needed. For example, they ask for complete data on a company for the past 15 years,” he said.

Furthermore, the FWI also demanded to get original copies of the Annual Timber Working Plan, said Putera. “We allowed them access to the file in JPEG format, but they asked for the original document. We’re afraid they could modify [the original document],” he said.

FWI campaigner Linda Rosalina, meanwhile, said that the organisation only asked for data for the past three years, not 15 years, and for copies of the documents, not the originals.  “Maybe he’s just being defensive. If there’s nothing to hide, then why don’t they just release the documents?” she said to The Jakarta Post on Friday. “As the documents are actually required to be disclosed by the VPA, it is only natural for the EU to question the Indonesian government because information is the basis of monitoring.”

The ministry has filed an appeal with the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN).

With the legal battle being waged to publish the documents, Putera said he was optimistic that the EU would understand the ministry’s decision to not release the documents. “Of course we don’t want the deal [between Indonesia and the EU] to be postponed just because of the disclosure issue,” said Putera.

Indonesia and the EU is now closer to issuing FLEGT-licensed timber. For the deal to be sealed, both parties need to determine that Indonesia’s Wood Legality Verification System (SVLK), the first national timber legality assurance system in the world to be implemented based on FLEGT principles, meets the requirements set out in the VPA.

Once the FLEGT-VPA is fully operational and FLEGT licenses are issued, Indonesian timber products will be acknowledged to be in full compliance with EU Timber Regulation Number 995/2010, which prohibits the placement of illegal timber in the EU market.

Operators and traders will not have to conduct a due diligence process on timber legality for FLEGT licensed products, something that is called “green lane”.

“On July 8, we will have final negotiations with the EU. Our target is for the EU to give our timber the green lane by January 2016,” Putera said. “Until now, there are still some products questioned by the EU, such as paper, because they come from industrial forests that have practices that are still questionable.”

Source: The Jjakarta Post (Edited)