Finnish Forestry Slams EU'S Russian Timber Plan
7/16/99
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Title: Finnish Forestry Slams EU'S Russian Timber Plan
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: July 16, 1999
HELSINKI - Finland's forest industry yesterday condemned European
Union plans to demand health certificates for softwood timber
imported into the union from Russia.
The European Commission is considering requiring importers to show
phytosanitary certificates for all timber from Russia because of
harmful pests found in coniferous forests.
The Federation of Finnish Forest Industries said that the worst case
scenario would add hundreds of thousands of extra transactions to
importers' bureaucratic burden, leading to heavy costs and delays.
"This could make (timber imports from Russia) unprofitable,"
Department Manager Pertti Litmanen told Reuters.
He said research showed the pests were only found in Siberian forests
east of the Yenisey river, thousands of kilometres east of where
Finnish companies buy Russian wood.
Litmanen added that an existing tracking system would in any case
better meet the Commission's concerns that timber from risky areas in
Siberia may be passed off as being from forests west of the Ural
mountains.
Finnish companies are required to account for the origin of Russian
timber under an audited quality-control system designed to protect
environmentally sensitive forests being felled.
Finland will import around 12 million cubic metres of timber from
Russia this year, 40 percent of which will be spruce or pine and the
rest birch, which is not affected by the pests.
Senior Planner Ralf Lopian from the agriculture ministry said Finland
was lobbying for an exemption from the planned rules or at least for
a transition period before having to implement them.
He said that, if accepted, the rules might come into force in the
second half of 2000 or in 2001.
Finland's leading paper producers Stora Enso , UPM-Kymmene and Metsa-
Serla all use timber from Russian forests.