Profiting from Plunder

8/14/2019 Profiting from Plunder

1/24

Profiting from PlunderHow Malaysia Smuggles Endangered Wood


2/24

Front cover (main picture): Kirsten Tuson/Orangutan Foundation; (insets): A.Valentinus/Environmental Investigation Agency/Telapak; Environmental Investigation Agency/Telapak; Da vid Sims/Environmental Investigation Agency/Telapak

Front cover (main picture):Raft of illegal logs in Tanjung Puting NationalPark

Front cover (Insets):Illegal logger in Indonesian National Park; Container

ship at Johor Port, Malaysia; Ramin wood blinds on sale in the UK

Executive Summary

Indonesia is suffering rampant illegallogging which threatens to destroy itsprecious forests within a few years, and thisdevastation is being fuelled by uncontrolleddemand for cheap tropical timber inconsuming countries.

Hundreds of millions of dollars of illegalIndonesian timber are estimated to beentering neighbouring Malaysia each year,providing cheap raw materials to avoracious wood industry which can nolonger be sustained by the countrys owndwindling forest estate.

One particularly vulnerable tree species

being illegally logged in Indonesiasprecious National Parks is ramin, a valuableblond hardwood. In an attempt to garnerthe support of the world community incombating illegal ramin trade, in 2001 theGovernment of Indonesia listed ramin on aninternational convention designed to controlthe trade in endangered species theConvention on International Trade inEndangered Species (CITES).

Since 2001 the Environmental InvestigationAgency (EIA) and Telapak have repeatedly

exposed how, despite being a signatory toCITES, Malaysia is wilfully failing touphold its international commitments, andthat illegal Indonesian ramin continues tobe traded through the country withimpunity.

Yet our previous findings pale intoinsignificance in light of recent EIA/Telapak undercover investigations exposingwholesale laundering of ramin throughMalaysia on an unprecedented scale. Thesehave revealed how thousands of tonnes of

endangered wood is being smuggled acrossthe border every month by organisedcriminals and provided with documentsincluding CITES permits certifying it asMalaysian origin all this despiteMalaysian promises to halt the trade.

Malaysia lies at the hub of a multi-milliondollar web of illegal ramin trading whichspans the globe and is being activelyfacilitated by local officials. As a result,products including baby furniture and poolcues made from stolen wood are reaching

the homes of unsuspecting consumers in theEU, USA and around the world.

Introduction 1

The Illegal Logging Scandal 4

Ramin Wood & CITES 5

An Appetite for Forest Destruction 6

Malaysias Reliance on Illegal Ramin 8

Recommendations 20

References 21

NEW CASE STUDIES

A: Johor PortA Lesson in Laundering 11

B: SarawakState Sanctioned Smuggling 15

C: Illegal Malaysian Ramin Baby Furniture 18

Acknowledgements

EIA and Telapak would like to thank The Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, TheSigrid Rausing Trust, and other donors for their generous support of our work,though it should not be implied that these groups share the views expressed withinthis report.

EIA and Telapak would also like to thank the many community groups, individualsand NGOs working together with EIA/Telapak on the illegal logging issue.

Written, researched and designed by Sam Lawson.

Additional research and editing by Arbi Valentinus, Dave Currey, Hapsoro, JulianNewman, Mardi Minangsari, Pallavi Shah, Sascha von Bismarck, Vanessa Freyand Yayat Afianto.

Many thanks to all at Emmerson Press for the printing of this report (EmmersonPress Tel: +44 1926 854400). Printed on 100% recycled paper.

Contents


3/24

Introduction

Never before has the international timberbusiness been under so much scrutiny. Thisfollows decades of an unregulated and

unscrupulous abuse of forests and tradingmechanisms. Many importers admit to notwanting to know where their supplies camefrom or how they were acquired. But in thelast few years the international communityhas started to tackle the complex issues ofsustainability and legality of supplies with adetermination that was previously lacking.

The Indonesian Ministry of Forestryreleased figures towards the end of 2003 thatput the rate of forest loss in the country at3.8 million hectares per year by far the

worst in the world.(1)

In an attempt to tacklean accelerating disaster, governments, civilsociety representatives, and some parts ofthe timber industry have focussed on thebasic issue of legality of supplies. Withillegal logging rampant throughout the worldthere is a strong recognition that the socialand environmental impact of this scourge aretoo huge to ignore, and the criminalsyndicates behind commercial illegallogging are growing in power as the forestsare shrinking.

EIA and Telapak have repeatedly exposedthe criminals behind this multi-billion dollarindustry. In this report we expose the largestever smuggling operation of the valuableand protected tree species ramin to Malaysia.This shocking evidence highlightsIndonesias continuing failure to bring tojustice timber barons who supply andtransport this illegal timber and Malaysiascallous complicity in protecting its ownramin processing industry. In Indonesia

these criminals operate with high-levelprotection and we can only deduct thatIndonesias apparent inability to deal withthem is because their supporters aremembers of the political and military elite.

Indonesias enforcement failures areevident in all parts of society, but Malaysiasare not typical of this tightly controlledregime. It is hoped that the new Malaysianadministration under Prime MinisterAbdullah Ahmad Badawi can break awayfrom the typical official denial and actually

deal with its appalling failure to supportinternational efforts to prevent trade inillegally sourced timber.

There are few mechanisms currentlyavailable to regulate any timber trade, butthrough the Convention on International

Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) it hasbeen possible to control some tree speciesthrough a legal instrument that alreadyexists. It is for this reason that in 2001Indonesia decided to place ramin,Gonystylus spp., on Appendix 3 of CITES totry to prevent the wholesale theft of thisvaluable species from its dwindling swampforests and National Parks. These sameParks are revered around the world for theirdiverse fauna and flora including Asias onlyGreat Ape, the orangutan. Indonesias move

has been widely commended as a genuineappeal for help from the internationalcommunity.

Above: Raft ofillegal logs onthe Seruyan rivernear Tanjung

Puting NationalPark, Indonesia

Introduction

SamLawson/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

1


4/24

Malaysia opposed the CITES listing fromthe start. As the only other range state with

commercial supplies of ramin, it took out areservation under the Convention on anyregulation of ramin parts or derivativesother than logs and sawntimber andcontinues to oppose the use of CITES onother timber species. If Malaysias raminindustry was acting legally there shouldhave been nothing to worry about and noreason to take such a step. But as we knownow, this was not the case and it appearsthat it was setting itself up for wholesalelaundering.

The shocking results of our recentinvestigations clearly show that sometraders and officials in Malaysia still profitfrom huge quantities of smuggledIndonesian ramin and fraudulently sellthem onto the international market asorigin Malaysia. If this was previouslyseen as a mark of quality and reliability onthe world market, it must now be viewed asa cynical and fake attempt at respectability.The smuggling uncovered by EIA/Telapakmay be the tip of the iceberg, but

nevertheless it represents more than doublethe amount of ramin Malaysia can produce

itself annually. This is wholesale theft andclearly Malaysian ramin cannot be trusted

on international markets.For three years EIA/Telapak have carriedout investigations in Malaysia andrepeatedly found illegally sourced logs ofmixed timber from Indonesia lying in frontof customs or immigration offices -demonstrating the degree of officialcomplicity in this appalling trade. EIA/Telapak have always supplied itsinformation to the authorities with varyingresults and responses.

Malaysia has disappointed the

international community, including itsregional neighbours, by its opposition tothe East Asia Forest Law Enforcement andGovernance (FLEG) process signed in agroundbreaking declaration in Bali inSeptember 2001. Malaysias formidablepowers in diplomacy have been focusedmore on undermining this initiative thanpromoting regional cooperation. IfMalaysia wished to be left alone to get onwith its own business, this may have beenreasonable. But Malaysia is a key hub in

the global trade in illegal timber and reliesupon the international community for its

A.Ruwindrijarto,EnvironmentalInvestigationAgnecy/Telapak

Introduction

Above:Illegal loggerin Indonesian NationalPark

origin

Malaysia

must now

be viewed as

a cynical

and fake

attempt at

respectability

2


5/24

business. It is therefore vital for Malaysia togenuinely cooperate if its claims ofrespectability are to begin to be believed.

What makes Malaysia so different fromIndonesia in the worlds eyes is theknowledge that Malaysia can enforce itslaws, clean up its act and support itsneighbours if it wants to. Indonesia on theother hand is going through a painfultransition to democracy which since 1998has created anarchy and lawlessness acrossthe archipelago. Nonetheless, routes fromWest Kalimantan to Malaysian Sarawak andfrom East Kalimantan to Malaysian Sabahcould be easily policed if officials from bothcountries were not corrupt.

The information gathered through these

recent EIA/Telapak investigations also pointthe finger at China and other markets.China must act on this information andprevent further abuse of CITES byinspecting ramin factories and living up toits CITES responsibilities. The raminconsuming countries and blocks, largelyJapan, the EU and the USA must be morequestioning and pro-active in theirinvestigations into ramin re-exported on totheir markets by China and Malaysia. Atthis moment in time, EIA/Telapak believe

that no ramin on the market can be trusted.This highly critical but factual report is not

published to blacken Malaysias name, butto point to some real truths and askMalaysia to face up to them as well. We allknow Malaysia is capable of dealing withthese issues if there is genuine interest indoing so, but to date this interest has onlybeen self-serving. As Indonesia faces acritical juncture in its history some tradersand officials in Malaysia are fuellingcriminality and raiding Indonesias forestresources like grave robbers at a funeral.

Illegal logging is a human tragedy as wellas an environmental one. The timbersyndicates with untold financial resourcesare greedily grabbing as much illegal timberas they can as the world sits in airconditioned rooms and negotiates how tostop them. Theyre laughing at us. Anycountry failing to cooperate fuels thiscriminality that impoverishes the lives offorest dependent people, causes conflict and

social disintegration and deprives countriesof future wealth.

Ramin is but one of many tree speciessuffering at the hands of timber thieves, andCITES does not represent the only or theultimate answer to the global problem ofillegal logging and the international trade inillegally sourced timber. But if theintransigence of one country is to beallowed to critically undermine theeffectiveness of this one small step then theability of the worlds governments to evenbegin to tackle these issues is called intoquestion. Meanwhile, the sound ofchainsaws continues to ring through thetrees as time runs out for Indonesiasforests.

Dave Currey

Director, EIA

HapsoroDirector, Telapak

February 2004

Traders and

officials in

Malaysia

are fuelling

criminality

and raiding

Indonesias

forest

resources

Introduction

D

aveCurrey/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

3


6/24

FaithDoherty/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

The Illegal loggingScandal

Illegal logging and the international tradein illegally sourced timber have in recentyears been acknowledged as amongst themost pressing environmental problemsfacing the world today. Over the last fiveyears the governments of the worldslargest timber producing and consuming

countries have made repeatedcommitments in a number of internationalfora to take urgent steps to tackle illegallogging and to halt the trade in illegallysourced timber and wood products. At theG8 Group of major economies, theInternational Tropical Timber Organisationand the United Nations Earth Summit,nations including the US, UK, Japan,Russia, China, Indonesia and Malaysiahave pledged to work together to tackle thescourge of timber theft.(2)

Illegal logging is not only destroyingforests but is breeding corruption andhampering much needed development innumerous countries around the world. Thenatural resources of these countries arebeing plundered and the environment laidwaste, while the profits are used to fuelconflicts or to enrich corrupt politicians asschools and hospitals are starved of funds.The sums involved are vast. Oneconservative estimate puts the annuallosses in revenues and assets at US$10billion.(3) Illegally sourced timber andwood products worth billions of dollars

annually are in international trade.Illegal logging is rampant in tropical and

non-tropical forests across three continents,and much of this wood is destined for therich consuming regions of North America,Europe and East Asia. More than threequarters of logging in Brazil is illegal,(4)while in Cameroon the figure is 50 percent.(5) Up to a third of Russian timber isestimated to have been stolen.(6)

The Indonesian archipelago is home to

ten per cent of the worlds remainingtropical forests.(7) These forests are someof the most diverse ecosystems on theplanet and are the habitat of numerousspecies threatened with extinction,including the Sumatran tiger and theorangutan, Asias only Great Ape. But 70per cent of Indonesias frontier forest hasalready been lost, and what remains isbeing destroyed at an unprecedented rate.(8)An area larger than Taiwan is being lostevery year.(9) The major driving force

behind this devastation is illegal logging,which accounts for three quarters of logproduction in the country.(10)

Since 1999 investigations carried out byEIA and Telapak have revealed widespreadillegal logging of the ramin tree species(see box) in Indonesias protected areas,including the world famous Tanjung PutingNational Park, one of the last sanctuariesfor the endangered orangutan. EIA/Telapak investigations have also shown

how illegal ramin is smuggled out of thecountry and on to the world market.(11)

The Illegal Logging Scandal

Right:Illegallogs inTanjungPutingNational Park,Indonesia

An area of

Indonesian

forest

larger than

Taiwan is

being lostevery year

4


7/24

Ramin and CITES

In response to growing concerns aboutillegal logging and trade in ramin, in April2001 the Indonesian government banned allcutting and export of ramin. Seekinginternational help, they also listed thespecies on Appendix III of the Conventionon International Trade in EndangeredSpecies (CITES). This international

convention, to which 155 countriesincluding Malaysia are signatories, isdesigned to monitor and if necessary limitthe trade in threatened species. In theabsence of general laws prohibiting theimport of illegally sourced timber and woodproducts, listings on CITES are currentlythe only legal mechanism by whichimporting countries can take action to haltshipments of such items.

The Appendix III listing, which came intoeffect in August 2001, means thatconsuming countries must only allow theimport of ramin and ramin products with

official CITES permits from the exportinggovernment. While Indonesian raminrequires a CITES Export permit, raminfrom the only other range state Malaysia requires a CITES Certificate of Originguaranteeing that it did not originateelsewhere. All other CITES Parties arerequired to issue CITES certificates for anyre-export of ramin or ramin products, andmust only issue these if they are satisfied

that the wood was imported legally withCITES documents. Since the end ofDecember 2001 Indonesia has banned allexports of ramin, except for a small quantityof certified wood exported by one company.

These actions should in theory make itimpossible for Indonesias illegal timberbarons to sell their stolen ramin overseas.Yet in August 2001 the Government ofMalaysia entered an official Reservationagainst the listing of ramin parts andproducts, meaning that as regards these

items Malaysia would opt out of itscommitments under CITES. As it turned

Ramin Wood and CITES

Ramin Wood

Ramin (Gonystylus spp.) is a blond coloured tropicalhardwood, native to the fragile peat-swamp forests ofIndonesia and Malaysia. As the most valuable woodspecies in these ecosystems, ramin trees are usually thefirst target of illegal loggers, and selective logging ofthese trees is often the first step leading to forestclearance, as the tracks and roads built to access andremove the timber become entryways for further illegalcutting, while canals built to remove the logs drain thepeat and lead to disastrous fires.

Ramin is prized for its appearance, fine grain and easyworking properties, and processed ramin can fetch up toUS$1000 per cubic metre.(12) The majority of theinternational trade in ramin wood is in semi-finished parts

and products, and most ramin cut in Indonesia andMalaysia will eventually find its way into homes in thelucrative markets of Europe, East Asia and North Americain the form of picture frames, wood blinds, cues,furniture, tool handles and decorative mouldings.

As a result of overcutting, ramin has now been logged-out in most of its range, and the quantity in trade hasdeclined as the species has become increasingly scarce.Ramin has been placed on the World List of ThreatenedTrees and is classified by the World Conservation Union(IUCN) as vulnerable to extinction in the wild.(13)


Above:Ramin dowels on sale in Italy, August 2002

5


8/24

DaveCurrey/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

out, the fact that no consuming countrywould accept ramin from Malaysiawithout CITES permits forced theMalaysian authorities to issue themregardless, while their justification for the

Reservation that implementation wouldbe impossible has since proven to befalse. This step has nevertheless served toconfuse the market as to the newrequirements and has facilitated illegaltrade. It also signals Malaysias lack ofsupport for the measure a lack ofsupport which EIA/Telapak investigationshave since shown extends to complicity inundermining the effectiveness of thelisting, and allowing illegal ramin trade tocontinue unhindered.

An Appetite for ForestDestruction

Malaysia is by far the largest exporter of

tropical timber in the world. Malaysiaexports more tropical logs, sawn timber,plywood and veneer than Africa andSouth America combined exports whichin 2000 were worth in excess of US$2.4billion.(14) Malaysia also exports aroundUS$1 billion of wooden furniture eachyear.(15)

As Malaysias own forests havedwindled, its huge timber industry hasbecome increasingly reliant on imports ofillegally logged Indonesian wood. In the

early 1990s Malaysias domestic logproduction stood at 40 million cubicmetres annually, but by 1999 it hadalmost halved to 22 million cubicmetres.(16) Yet while log supply hasfallen, the countrys wood processingindustry has maintained an installedcapacity of 40 million cubic metres ayear, with over 1000 sawmills still inoperation. (17)

An independent analysis carried out inSeptember 2002 concluded that legal

felling and legal imports accounted foronly 60 per cent of Malaysias totalconsumption and export of timber theprevious year. The study concluded thatthe balance was in all probabilityacquired illegally.(18)

Over the last three years EIA/Telapakinvestigators have confirmed thesesuspicions, and have documentedcountless trucks and ships carrying illegalIndonesian wood entering Malaysia in

dozens of locations across the country,including official government bordercheckpoints. An armada of wooden shipsferry stolen timber from Sumatra toports along the west coast of PeninsularMalaysia, while fleets of trucks shuttlecontraband wood to and from the longland border between Indonesian Borneoand the Malaysian state of Sarawak. (19)In recent months banned squared logshave also been filmed arriving in Tawauin Sabah from Indonesias East

Kalimantan province, while an aerialsurvey revealed several illegal logging

An Appetite for Forest Destruction

Below:Illegallogs fromIndonesia atthe Malaysianport of Melaka,August 2001

6


9/24

roads stretching across the border.(20)Although a significant proportion of this

flood of smuggled timber is ramin, mostis other less threatened species. Indeed,Malaysias continuing consumption andtrade in stolen Indonesian wood is a broad

problem which CITES alone is notequipped to tackle. The example of raminserves to dramatically expose Malaysiasunwillingness to act and since it is theonly species Malaysia currently has aninternational legal obligation to control, iframin from Malaysia cannot be trusted tobe legal, then no wood can.

An Appetite for Forest Destruction


DaveCurrey/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

SamLawson/EnvironmentalInvestigationAge

ncy/Telapak

MardiMinangsari/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

A History of Timber Theft: IllegalIndonesian Logs Imported into

Malaysia, 2001-2003Right (top):Illegal Indonesian logs arrivingin Melaka, Peninsular Malaysia, August 2001

Right (upper middle):Illegal Indonesian logsbeing unloaded in Kuala Linggi, PeninsularMalaysia, May 2002

Right (lower middle):Illegal Indonesian logsin the port of Muar, Peninsular Malaysia,April 2003

Right (bottom):Illegal squared logs fromIndonesia arriving at the customs-controlled

Barter Trade Jetty at Tawau, Sabah,Malaysia, October 2003

Legal cutLegal importsTOTAL LEGAL TIMBERSUPPLY

ExportsDomestic ConsumptionTOTAL CONSUMPTION

DEFICIT (and approximateMalaysian illegal timberconsumption)

188921955

20847

249499243

34242

13

395

Malaysias Timber Supply Deficit, 2001

m3 (000s) RWE*

*Round Wood Equivalent

Adapted from Dr David W. Brown, September 2002; Figures from USDA Global Agricultural Information Network

August 2001

October 2003

April 2003

May 2002

7


10/24

Dave

Currey/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

Most of

Malaysias

ramin

swamp

forests

have been

logged at

least once

Malaysias Reliance onIllegal Ramin

Cutting, processing and export of raminwood formed the basis of the large-scale

timber industry in Malaysia in the early1960s and fuelled a boom in the sectorwhich expanded rapidly over the next threedecades. Ramin exports peaked in the1980s and by the 1990s most of Malaysiaspeat swamp forests had been logged atleast once, and over-cutting coupled withpoor natural regeneration had dramaticallyreduced the legal supply of ramin logs inthe country.(21) Ramin has never beensuccessfully grown in plantations,(22) andwhile much of the industry turned toalternative species, many companies whichhad become reliant on ramin turned to theonly other remaining source the forests ofneighbouring Indonesia.

When the Indonesian ban and CITESlisting came into effect, independentindustry consultants estimated that as muchas 60 per cent of Malaysias ramin exportswere being sourced in Indonesia, with asmuch as 120000 cubic metres of raminlogs needing to be imported legally and

illegally each year to feed the Malaysian

ramin industry.(23) Yet the level of raminexported from Malaysia has remainedsteady since the beginning of 2002 whenlegal Indonesian exports ceased.(24) Giventhat ramin production in Malaysia hascontinued to drop, the only possible

explanation is that illegal ramin fromIndonesia continues to be importedunhindered by the new controls orMalaysias commitments under CITES.EIA/Telapak investigations since August2001 have repeatedly proven that this isindeed the case.

In June 2001 Indonesian Customsintercepted two ships, the KM Aiwan Jayaand the KM Iqbal, carrying 360 tonnes oframin en route from Riau in Sumatra toBatu Pahat, on the west coast of PeninsularMalaysia.(25) In August, after the raminCITES listing came into effect, EIA/Telapak investigators found the trade inillegally sourced Indonesian ramin to BatuPahat remained unaffected. On 9th Augustan Indonesian barge fully loaded withramin logs from Kalimantan was observedmoored at the wharf of Malaysian companyE.S. Ng Holdings Sdn Bhd just outside thetown. The barge had arrived that day.Immigration facilities for Indonesian

seamen were seen at the timber yard,(26)

Malaysias Reliance on Illegal Ramin

Right:Kalimantanbarge SumberMas XV ladenwith ramin,docked nearBatu Pahat, 9thAugust 2001

8


11/24

Above:Mountingevidence ofMalaysiastrade in stolenIndonesianramin, June2001 toNovember 2003

where unmarked Indonesian logs were

being measured and labelled by auniformed official on a later visit.(27)Also in August 2001, EIA/Telapak

uncovered a thriving trade in illegal logsfrom Indonesia, including large quantitiesof ramin, in the historic Malaysian porttown of Melaka, just north of Batu Pahat.Conversations with one of the crewmen onthe timber vessels revealed that thosecompanies involved in trading the raminwere able to make a profit of aroundUS$200 on every cubic metre shipped.(28)

While Malaysian officials acting oninformation supplied by EIA/Telapak madea seizure of illegal Indonesian ramin atMelaka in August 2001,(29) EIA/Telapakare not aware of any action being taken bythe authorities in Batu Pahat and it wasobvious that the trade in illicit ramin wasbeing allowed to continue relativelyunabated. The import operations for illegallogs from Indonesia at Melaka moved to anew, larger but less conspicuous locationup the coast,(30) and a year later theIndonesian authorities were continuing tointercept wooden vessels in the Melaka

straits attempting to smuggle ramin to

Malaysia this time squared logs en routeto Port Klang.(31)Despite the information provided by EIA/

Telapak, Batu Pahat also remained a hubfor the trade in smuggled ramin. A nightraid by customs officers from Riau inSumatra in late March of 2003 netted avessel carrying more than 500 ramin logswhich was heading for Batu Pahat.(32) Itquickly became apparent that this was farfrom an isolated case when a week later,EIA/Telapak investigators found ramin

logs from Indonesia at two separate landingareas on the shores of the river in the town,locations which can only by reached bypassing police and customs vessels.(33)

Investigators posing as timber dealers metwith the boss of one Malaysian timbercompany charged with overseeing thelanding of logs at one of the busiest wharfsin Batu Pahat. Staff from the companyshowed investigators fresh ramin logs piledopenly on the wharf in the centre of townwhich the company had recently purchasedfrom Indonesia, and gave investigators atour of a nearby mill where the ramin was


9


12/24

Above:Illegalramin logs fromIndonesia in BatuPahat, Malaysia ,April 2003

being sawn and moulded for export.(34)Also in April 2003, EIA/Telapak were

informed by local people that about one inten of the dozens of Indonesian vesselsbringing illegal logs into the town of Muaron the coast of Peninsular Malaysia eachday were carrying ramin. These boats werefilmed queueing at a customs andimmigration facility in the centre of townbefore being allowed to move upstream to

unload their illicit cargo.(35)

With mounting evidence showing themovement of illegal Indonesian ramin intoMalaysia, the document trail also began topaint a picture of how this illegal raminwas entering world markets. EIAcompared CITES permits received by UScustoms authorities for shipments of raminfrom Malaysia between September 2001and May 2002 with imports of itemsdescribed as ramin in shipping documentsduring the same period. This analysisshowed that of almost 8000 cubic metresof ramin dowels, mouldings and otheritems which arrived from Malaysia duringthe nine months in question, almost twothirds just under 5000 cubic metres had been shipped from Malaysia and

arrived in the USA illegally withoutCITES permits.(36)

By the end of 2003 it was clear thatMalaysias ramin export industry wascontinuing to feed on ramin stolen fromIndonesias forests, and that the illegalIndonesian ramin seen being imported intoMalaysia was being shipped on to the mainconsumer markets of China, Japan, Europeand the US. Recent investigations by EIA/Telapak now show the true scale andsophistication by which illegal Indonesianramin is being actively laundered throughMalaysia and on to unsuspecting CITESParties with the collusion of some

Malaysian authorities. Such fraud ismaking the consumers of ramin productsunwitting accessories to forest crime.


EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

By the end of

2003 it was

clear that

Malaysiasramin export

industry was

continuing to

feed on

ramin stolen

from

Indonesiasforests

Above:Seizures in Sumatra of ramin enroute to Malaysia, June 2001 & August 2002

Far right:Copiesof CITES permitswere obtainedfrom US

authorities

10


13/24

Above:IllegalIndonesianramin seized inSingapore in

October 2002the raminsmugglers havesince movedtheir operationsto Malaysia

A Lesson in Laundering

In April 2003 EIA/Telapak exposed asmuggling operation moving illegalIndonesian sawn ramin from Jambi in

Sumatra through Singapore to China.During these investigations oneSingaporean timber dealer was introducedto undercover investigators as a timbersmuggler and mafia.(37) Six months latera major Indonesian timber baron sent aletter to enforcement authorities andjournalists in Indonesia detailing theactivities of a timber smuggling syndicateinvolving the same man Mr FrankieChua of the company Century WoodProducts Pte Ltd. Chua was named as a

key figure involved in the large scalesmuggling of illegal logs from IndonesiasWest Papua province to China.(38)

Recent EIA/Telapak investigations nowconfirm the involvement of organisedcrime syndicates in large scale raminlaundering. They also reveal how theSingaporean ramin smuggling operationuncovered in early 2003 has sinceexpanded dramatically and moved acrossthe Johor Straits to Malaysia, where theillicit business has found a warm welcomeand a ready partner in the authoritiesinvolved in running one of Malaysiasmajor ports.

In early November 2003, EIA/Telapakinvestigators posing as executives of acompany interested in transshipment

business visited Johor Port on the tip ofthe Malaysian peninsula, within sight ofSingapore. The port, also known as Pasir

Gudang, is twinned with a large containerterminal a few miles along the coastcalled Tanjung Pelapas. These ports weredeveloped by Malaysia as part of adeliberate move to win business fromnearby Singapore, which is one of thebusiest ports in the world.

Both the Johor ports, as well as thenearby airport, are owned via a web ofpaper companies by Syed MokhtarAlbukhary, one of Malaysias richest menand a close associate of former PrimeMinister Mahathir.(39) Mokhtar is nostranger to controversial business, havingrecently purchased a controlling stake inthe much-criticised Bakun dam project inSarawak.(40) The ports are large by anystandard, and have been designed with asingle purpose in mind to aid the freemovement of goods as cheaply as possibleand with an absolute minimum ofinterference from the authorities. Inline with this, both have Free Trade

Zones (FTZ) where goods can be storedand transshipped outside of customscontrol.(41)

Johor PortA Lesson in Laundering

A.

Valentinus/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

Left:Johor Portadvertisingbrochure

11


14/24

Environm

entalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

EnvironmentalInvestigationA

gency/Telapak

Right:AnIndonesianwooden cargovessel moored atJohor Port

Far right:Mr

Abbas, Directorof the Break BulkDepartment ofthe privatisedJohor PortAuthority

EIA/Telapak investigators were given aguided tour of Johor Ports facilities bystaff of the privatised Port Authority.These facilities include a container

terminal visited by numerous shippinglines mostly serving East Asia, a giganticpalm oil terminal, as well as amplefacilities for non-containerised bulk goods.Staff bragged of how little paperwork wasinvolved in transshipping goods throughthe port and described the FTZ as like athird world country.(42)

During the tour three huge warehouseswere seen within the FTZ filled with sawnramin wood. Investigators later met theport official in charge of bulk goods and a

representative from the shipping agents

handling the timber on behalf of the four orfive local companies which own the ramin.The port official, Jack Abbas, confirmedthat all the sawn timber observed was

ramin from Indonesia. He explained howwooden vessels, each carrying around 150-200 cubic metres of ramin, arrive at theport from Sumatra every day. Theunloaded ramin is stored in the warehousesfor two to four weeks to allow it to air-dry,and is then packed into containers fortransshipment to Hong Kong, Taiwan andmainland China.

Abbas further revealed that in the springof 2002 he visited Singapore to persuadecompanies involved in ramin transshipment

to switch their business to Johor, which


Below:Raminair-dryingoutside awarehouse inJohor Port,November 2003

Inset:Email fromthe shippingagent, dated 20thDecember 2003,explaining thelaundering

process

12

Dear Sam,

Im so sorry for the late reply because Im away to Jakarta on businesstrip.

Anyway, to answer to earlier e-mail, let me explain the whole processflow on the timber movement to you again in point form.

(1) Timber from Indonesia is imported to Malaysia via Johor Port.

(2) Sorting, air drying, re-packing and staffing in to container within 6weeks after discharging from the wooden boat in the Ports free Zonearea. Timbers exported to Malaysia are without any Cites.

(3) Containers in Johor Port will be exported to either HK or PRC withall the necessary doc umentations (BL, P hytosanitary Certificate,Certificate of Origin, etc). The timber species will not indicate it as Raminbut another Tropical wood name that are almost the same as R amin.

(4) Containers arrived in HK / PRC and the agent will prepare anothernew set of documents that will also includes a new set of Certificate ofOrigin to indicate that this time t he cargoes are originated from HK orPRC. The re-export Cites will also be Purchased and issue out forthose mentioned cargoes going to EU or USA.

(5) As for the additional cost to buy the re-export cites, my partner isnow in PRC with the new agent. I will get back to you once he feed mewith the info.

(6) The re-export procedures that I have suggested it to you is thecommon method they normally practice to get the Ramin wood o ver toEU or USA. Since the whole process is done in the Ports Free Zonearea, the MTIB is not involve in controlling the timber movement.

Please feel free to e-mail me fo r any questions that hit your mind atanytime. Ill do my level best to answer it.

Thank you and best perso nal regards,

Andrew Chew


15/24

Above:Raminlaundering flowchart supplied byMr Chew, seen infront of stacks ofair-dryingIndonesian ramin atJohor Port

they began doing in September of that year.He estimated that around 4500 cubicmetres of sawn ramin was now passingthough the port each month, mostly toShanghai and Hong Kong. In order to aidthe business further he was planning toinvest in a kiln to speed up the dryingprocess and so increase the volume oftimber which could be handled.

Abbas and the shipping agent, AndrewChew, drove investigators to view theramin timber, and demonstrated how eachbundle of timber was dated to show when itarrived most of the dates seen being fromOctober 2003. The two men stated thatthere was no red tape involved intransshipping the timber and no permitswere required, and described how the FTZauthority issue paperwork which disguisesthe origin of the wood as Malaysian.Abbas explained that there were controlson the Indonesian side, but indicated that

the exporters were able to bypass thesewith money. The Indonesian ships havefalse port clearance documents stating theirdestination as the Indonesian island ofBatam near Singapore, but change courseat the last minute for Johor.

Most of the illegal ramin seen at Johorcomes from an area around the borders ofJambi and Riau provinces in Sumatra,where illegal logging of ramin has beenrecorded in the protected areas of BerbakNational Park and the Kerumatan Wildlife

Reserve.(43)In a follow up meeting Chew revealed the

full details of the operation and those

behind it. He told how ninety-ninepercent of this ramin is smuggled, that allof it was CITES-free and explained howthe port authority assists in constructingfalse paper trails including Bills of Ladingto disguise the origin of the wood.Although Chew admitted they were notable to obtain Malaysian CITES permitsfor the ramin, he claimed he was able tosupply Certificates of Origin from theMalaysian Ministry of Agriculture.

The Malaysian Timber Industry Board(MTIB), the government departmentcharged with implementing the raminCITES listing in Malaysia, have an officein Johor Port. Yet it was apparent that ithad failed to stop thousands of tonnes ofillicit ramin wood which had been blatantlypassing through the port for over a year.Indeed, Chew confirmed to investigatorsthat the staff of the office have been wellaware all along that Indonesian ramin

without CITES permits was beingtransshipped through the port. Theshipping agent also claimed to have beentold by the timber trade authorities that aslong as the ramin did not pass Customs inMalaysia there would be no problem.

Chew revealed that all the ramin passingthrough the port was purchased from oneman in Sumatra, whom he called theramin king. Named by another source asJambi Lee, this mysterious figure owns afleet of more than sixty wooden ships used

for smuggling ramin and illegal squaredlogs to Malaysia. Described as thenumber 3 in an ethnic-Chinese



INDONESIA (IMPORT)Ramin wood.

EXPORT FLOW CHART

MALAYSIA (EXPORTER)Declare in the Malaysian Certificate Of Origin as any white

tropical wood to China or Hong Kong.

CHINA / HONG KONGAgent in China or Hong Kong to "get" the Re-Export Cites

Certificate to re-export the containers to EU or USA

FINAL DESTINATION (EU / USA)POP the Champagne!!!!!!

Ninety-nine

per cent of

this ramin is

smuggled ...

all this

ramin that

you see is

CITES-free

Andrew Chew,Shipping Agent atJohor Port,November 2003

13


16/24

Indonesian organised crime ring, he wasreputedly a dollar millionaire by the age ofthirty and owns mansions in Sumatra,Batam and Singapore.

Chew told of meetings with Jambi Leeat a seafood restaurant near Johor Port, andhad also met the crime syndicates number2. He also described how the syndicatehas bought off local Indonesian customsofficials and harbour masters and uses its

influence to have any attempted shipmentsby competitors stopped.It was later confirmed in writing that the

sawn ramin in the port is mostly shipped toShanghai and Hong Kong, with an averageof more than 150 twenty and forty footshipping containers being transferred to thetwo destinations each month. Theshipping agent explained that the ramin,mostly in 4 inch widths, is used tomanufacture picture frames and pool &billiard cues in China for re-export.

Most of the worlds wooden cues aremanufactured in China by Taiwanese-run

companies. In the US, more than 80000illegal ramin billiard cues from Chinaworth more than US$ 1 million have beenseized over the past two years in fiveseparate hauls.(44) Court cases are currentlypending against one large US cue

distributor accused of importing Chineseramin cues into the west coast port ofSeattle without CITES permits twice in thespace of just two months.(45) In the UKEIA surveys in 2003 have also revealedcontinuing imports by major distributors oframin cues without the proper legaldocuments.(46)

Though ramin trees are now rare andendangered, cues made from the wood areamongst the cheapest available in westernmarkets. One UK dealer told EIA that hewas unable to match the low prices offeredfor ramin cues by competitors, which retailin bulk for as little as US$2.(47) Largenumbers of cheap pre-formed ramin pictureframes made in China can also easily befound on sale in Japan, Europe and the US.The large scale laundering of stolenIndonesian ramin timber seen at Johor ismasking the true cost of these consumerproducts by providing raw materials at ablack-market discount.

In subsequent communications Chewwent on to explain in detail how it wouldbe easy to further launder the illegal raminthrough China, where he claimed shippingcontacts have in the past been able to buythe CITES re-export permits needed tobring it to Europe or the US. He evenprovided a flowchart to illustrate thelaundering process, ending with thelegalised ramin safely arrived in the USAor Europe and an invitation to pop thechampagne.

Overall, as much as 70000 cubic metresof banned Indonesian ramin is beingsmuggled to China and Hong Kongthrough Johor Port each year in as many as2000 shipping containers. Malaysias ownsupply of legal ramin is estimated to be inthe region of 80-90000 cubic metres oflogs per year,(48) which alone couldproduce no more than 35-45000 cubicmetres of ramin sawn timber. Almosttwice as much illegal Indonesian ramin isbeing laundered through Johor Port eachmonth, under the watchful eyes of theauthorities, than is legally produced in thewhole of Malaysia.

Above:Containervessel atJohor Port,November2003

Below:Raminpicture framemoulding onsale in the UK


Environmental Investigation Agency/Telapak


Almost twice

as much

illegal

Indonesian

ramin is

being

laundered

through

Johor Port

than is

legally

produced in

the whole of

Malaysia

14


17/24

Sarawak State-Sanctioned Smuggling

The Malaysian state of Sarawak is thebirthplace of the ramin industry, but by

1990 a mission by the InternationalTropical Timber Organisation (ITTO)reported that ramin in Sarawak was beingheavily overcut,(49) and by the turn of thecentury, vast tracts of Sarawaks peatswamp forest had been converted into palmoil plantations, while most of the remainderwas logged out.(50) Despite the currentscarcity of productive ramin forestconcessions in Sarawak many ramindealers in the industry centre of Sibucontinue to do substantial business. EIA/Telapak investigations have shown that,just as in Peninsular Malaysia, this isbecause Sarawaks shrinking raminreserves are being supplemented by illegalwood from Indonesia.

Vast quantities of illegally sourcedIndonesian wood enter Sarawak each day,mostly through three checkpoints run bythe Harwood Company, a subsidiary of thegovernment-run Sarawak Timber IndustryDevelopment Corporation (STIDC).(51) In

late 2001, industry sources estimated thatbetween 10 and 20 per cent of the half amillion cubic metres of timber passingthrough Harwoods depots was ramin.(52)This includes ramin illegally logged in theprotected wetland area of Danau Santarum,in Indonesias West Kalimantan state,which is brought into Sarawak through theHarwood facility at Lubok Antu.(53) Asrecently as October 2003, a truck loadedwith illegal Indonesian ramin wood wasseized in the town.(54)

All of the ramin timber originating orbrought into Sarawak is destined forexport, either in raw form or as semi-finished mouldings and dowels (woodenrods). Most of the shipment recordsobtained by EIA for imports of ramin woodinto the USA are for shipments of dowelsand mouldings from Sarawak, and morethan half are from one company based inSibu called Koh Ying Sdn Bhd. RegularUS importers of ramin from Koh Yingidentified in shipping data include thecompanies H. Arnold Wood Turning, theHermitage Trading Company andIndowood Forest Products. (55)

Though there is no evidence thesecompanies have been acting illegally, itseems they may unwittingly have beenreceiving products made from stolen wood.

Comparison of shipping data withpermits received by US Customs indicatesaround half of the shipments of ramin fromSarawak arriving in the USA areunaccompanied by Malaysian CITES

documents, including around 35 per cent of


SarawakState Sanctioned Smuggling

Above: Mr Haof AlliedLumber

Below: Raminseized bySarawakauthorities atLubok Antu,

October 2003

15


18/24

Koh Yings shipments (see table above).(56)Indeed, another company supplied withramin dowels by Koh Ying, MohawkHandle of Canada, have already had oneshipment of illegally sourced ramin woodproducts seized by US authorities.(57)While most of the shipments made by KohYing to the companies mentioned aboveare nevertheless accompanied by thecorrect paperwork, EIA/Telapak have now

learned how even those shipments withMalaysian CITES Certificates of Originmay be of illegal Indonesian origin.

Koh Ying are supplied with much of theirramin sawn timber by a company calledAllied Lumber, also based in Sibu.(58) InOctober 2003, undercover EIA/Telapakinvestigators jointly met with executivesfrom Allied Lumber and Koh Ying, andtoured Koh Yings large factory complex,which was filled with the sound of raminbeing machined as workers preparedshipments of dowels for the US, Europe

and Japan and artists paintbrush handlesfor shipment to France. While Philip Law,the owner of Koh Ying, was quick to


EnvironmentalInvestigationA

gency/Telapak

3155 m3*

2033 m3

*Converted from weight using 680kg/m3Source: US Port Import Export Reporting Service; CITES permits obtained from US Fish and Wildlife Service

DEFICIT

Imports recorded at US ports

1122 m3

Aug 01Jun 02

CITES permits received Aug 01Jun 02

Comparison of registered imports into the US of ramin dowels andmouldings from Koh Ying in Sarawak with CITES permits received forthese shipments by US authorities

Right:Philip Law, Managing Director of Koh Ying

Below: Malaysian CITES permit issued to Koh Ying

for a shipment of ramin dowels which was exportedto the USA

Below right:The 6000m3 of ramin in Koh Yingswarehouse in Sibu, from the companys brochure

The Koh Ying Connection

16


19/24

A.

Ruwindrijarto/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

assure us that all of his ramin is Malaysianand that he can easily obtain MalaysianCITES permits, Ha Tung Hoo of AlliedLumber later explained how much of thestockpile of 6000 cubic metres of raminstored in Koh Yings warehouses is

laundered Indonesian wood.Ha admitted to importing illegal ramin

from Indonesia in the past, and explainedin detail how Indonesian ramin islaundered through the Sibu mills. Heexplained how cargo vessels bring theramin from Indonesia to the port ofTanjung Manis, a new developmentdownstream from Sibu, despite STIDCrules which state that timber fromIndonesia may only be brought in by sea atthe town of Sematan, 200 kilometres away.He alleged that Malaysian customs are paidto allow the illegal shipment through, andthe vessels then sail on to unload at millson the Sibu river. Staff from STIDC inSibu, which is the local branch of theMalaysian CITES Management Authority,then apparently come to the mill and for apayment issue CITES permits certifyingthe ramin as origin Malaysia, despite beingwell aware of the true origin of the wood.Koh Ying then allegedly buys the already

laundered Indonesian wood to supplementits local supplies, and obtains CITESpermits from STIDC in turn for themouldings they produce from it.

The process described by Ha wascorroborated in testimony to EIA from an

independent industry source.(59) Ha toldinvestigators that he believes around 30-40per cent of the ramin exported fromSarawak as origin Malaysia is actuallyillegal Indonesian wood laundered in thismanner. This represents at least 2000cubic metres of sawn timber every month,plus approximately the same quantity ofdowels and mouldings.(60)

In 2002 US customs seized a shipment of100000 ramin dowels worth an estimatedUS$10000 which had arrived fromMalaysia without a CITES permit.(61) Yetit seems this shipment of around 12 cubicmetres was the tip of the iceberg. If Hasfigures are correct, the USA alone isreceiving approximately 150 cubic metresof laundered Indonesian ramin fromSarawak with bogus Malaysian CITESpermits each and every month, in additionto the 500 cubic metres which apparentlyarrives without any documentation at all.


Ha told

investigators

that 30-40

per cent of

the ramin

exported

from

Sarawak as

origin

Malaysia is

laundered

Indonesianwood

Below:Ramin peatswamp forest

17


20/24

Illegal Malaysian RaminFurniture

Twins Furniture is a Malaysianmanufacturer of wooden baby furniture

based in Kuantan in Peninsular Malaysia.It is one of the worlds top five producersof baby furniture and exports products allover the world. It specialises in theproduction of wooden baby cribs or cots,most of which are made with ramin wood.Twins currently exports around 60shipping containers a month to its mainmarkets of Europe, the US, Japan andAustralia.(62)

EIA/Telapak investigators posing aspotential buyers visited Twins in

November 2003 and were shown aroundthe companys large network of factories.The marketing manager repeatedly assuredthem that no special permits would beneeded to export ramin cribs to the UKor USA, and the company owner, StanleyGoh, confirmed that Twins regularlyexports ramin cribs to these andother destinations without CITES exportpermits.(63)

Details of CITES permits received byCustoms in the USA and the UK obtainedby EIA show no legal imports of raminbaby furniture from Malaysia,(64) furtherconfirming the illegality of theseshipments. While Malaysia has officiallyrefused to stand by its CITES commitmentsregarding ramin parts and products, theseshipments are nevertheless illegal.

While admitting to exporting raminfurniture without CITES permits, Twinsexecutives were careful to reassure EIA/Telapak investigators that all of thecompanys ramin wood raw material wassourced from legal forest concessions inPeninsular Malaysia which they operatethemselves. This claim is difficult tobelieve, as while Goh told investigatorsthat the company have 8000 tonnes (11 000

cubic metres) of ramin in stock whichoriginated in the local forests of Pahangstate, figures show the entire annual legalsupply of ramin logs from the forests ofPeninsular Malaysia could barely supplyhalf this amount.(65)

Indeed, when investigators located thecompanys sawmill they found squaredramin logs which a mill worker stated hadcome from Indonesia. While localMalaysian ramin logs were seen, a workerexplained that these are supplemented

by regular truck loads of Indonesian raminwhich arrive via barges into the nearby

Illegal Malaysian Ramin Furniture

Environm

entalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

Env

ironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

Right:Raminlogs at Twinssawmill

Below:Ramincrib partsinside one ofTwinsfactories inKuantan

Inset:Twinsbrochure

18


21/24

port of Kuantan. Such shipments must beof illegal origin. It also seems that the

world of illegal ramin trade is a small one:a recent visitor to Twins factory asrecorded in their visitors book was aRoland Ha of Allied Lumber in Sarawak the elder brother of the very man who onlytwo weeks earlier had described in detailto EIA/Telapak investigators the processby which illegal Indonesian ramin isbrought into Malaysia and provided withbogus CITES permits.(66)

Twins claim to supply products to a

number of retailers in the UK either director via UK agents or middlemen, includinga major UK distributor called Cosatto.Tiny Kins, a UK mail order supplier, offera Cosatto ramin toddler bed for 99.99.Tiny Kins stated to EIA investigators thatCosatto had informed them the bed camefrom Malaysia, where Twins is the onlysupplier of such products.(67)

US import data supplied by PIERSshows two companies, Dream on Me, Inc.of New York and GD Products Ltd of

Canada, have recently imported baby cribsfrom Twins, though it is not clear what

species of wood these were manufacturedfrom. A third company, Williams Sonoma

Inc, have been shipping ramin cribs fromKuantan in Malaysia where Twinsfactory is based. Though the sourcecompany name has been withheld, theproduct code matches that of one ofTwins products. Williams Sonoma arethe parent company of the major USchildrens retailer Pottery Barn Kids.(68)While Pottery Barn have recentlydiscontinued one line of ramin cribs,another known as the Sleigh crib

continues to be sold in stores. Althoughclearly identified in PIERS import data asmanufactured from ramin wood, the bed,which retails for US$700, is advertised asbeing manufactured from maple.(69)

While there is no evidence to suggestthat the UK and US retailers named abovehave knowingly broken any law, EIA/Telapaks investigations have shown thatthese products are likely to have beenimported without the proper CITESpermits, and they may also have been

manufactured from endangered treesstolen from Indonesias national parks.

Illegal Malaysian Ramin Furniture


Above and right:The Sleigh crib on sale at a PotteryBarn Kids store in the US. Shipping documents showthe crib was imported from Kuantan in Malaysia, ismade of ramin and has a Twins Furniture product code.

19


22/24

Recommendations

Importers and consumers of ramin, especially in the major markets of NorthAmerica, Europe and East Asia must not buy any ramin or ramin products at thistime.

Malaysia must investigate and prosecute those persons, companies and officialsfound to have been involved in the smuggling and laundering of illegal ramin.Malaysia must withdraw its reservation to the ramin CITES listing and takeurgent steps to halt all imports, transhipments and re-exports of illegalIndonesian ramin.

The government of Malaysia must formally endorse the East Asia Forest LawEnforcement and Governance (FLEG) Declaration and draw up an action plan topursue the commitments made within it.

The government of Indonesia must improve enforcement of the ban on ramincutting and export, and must investigate, arrest and prosecute Jambi Lee andany other persons including corrupt officials involved in smuggling ramin.

The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia should hold a ministerial-levelmeeting to discuss and resolve the illegal trade in timber between the twocountries.

Customs and CITES authorities in Singapore, China, and Taiwan must carry outthorough investigations into their ramin business.

CITES parties should authorize a technical and political mission to Malaysia toinvestigate the illegal trade in ramin.

Recommendations

Right:Sawmillnear TanjungPutingNational Parkprocessingramin

Opposite:Ramin tree

SamLaw

son/EnvironmentalInvestigationAgency/Telapak

Importers

and

consumers

of ramin,especially

in the

major

markets of

North

America,

Europe and

East Asia

must not

buy any

ramin or

ramin

products

20


23/24

References1) Forest Watch Indonesia, as quoted in Jakarta Post, 29thOctober 20032) Plan of Implementation of the World Summit onSustainable Development (Revised), 23rd September2002, G8 Summit, Birmingham 19983) Speech by World Bank Indonesia Director Mark Bairdto FLEG Conference, Bali, Sept 20014) Royal Institute of International Affairs (RIIA),Controlling the International Trade in Illegally LoggedTimber and Wood Products, Feb 20025) ibid6) ibid7) Consultative Group on Indonesian Forestry (CGIF),Jakarta, Sept 19968) Bryant et al, World Resources Institute, The LastFrontier Forests 19979) Forest Watch Indonesia, as quoted in Jakarta Post, 29thOctober 200310) Indonesia-UK Tropical Forest ManagementProgramme 1999

11) EIA/Telapak Indonesia, The Final Cut, 1999; EIA/Telapak, Timber Trafficking, 200112) EIA/Telapak, Timber Trafficking, 200113) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species14) International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO),Annual Review and Assessment of The World TimberSituation, 200115) Malaysian Timber Council, 200216) WWF/World Bank, Overview of Forest LawEnforcement in East Malaysia, March 200117) WWF Malaysia/World Bank, Overview of ForestLaw Enforcement in East Malaysia, 200118) Memo by Dr .David W Brown, September 200219) EIA/Telapak, Timber Trafficking, 2001; EIA/Telapak Briefing Document, Timber Traffickers, May200320) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,October 200321) Report of the Malaysia-The Netherlands Ad-Hoc

Expert Group on Forest Management, Jan 1996;Independent consultants report commissioned by EIA/

Telapak, 200122) ibid23) ibid24) ibid25) Malaysian Export Statistics26) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,August 200127) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,April 200328) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,August 200129) Borneo Bulletin, 21st September 200130) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,May 200231) SCTV News Indonesia, August 200232) Batam Pos, 31/03/0333) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,April 200334) ibid35) ibid

36) PIERS Import data; CITES permits obtained fromUS Fish & Wildlife Service, July 200237) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,April 200338) Trust Magazine, August 200339) The Star Online, 30th August 2003, Asiawise, 17thDecember 200140) The Asian Wall Street Journal 05 September 200341) Johor Port website and brochure November 200342) All information in this chapter not otherwisereferenced is from an EIA/Telapak Internal Report ofField Investigation, November 2003, including still &video evidence43) EIA/Telapak, Timber Trafficking, 200144) Pers. comm., US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS),200245) US Public Access to Court Electronic Records(PACER) electronic system, December 200346) EIA Internal Report of Telephone Survey, July 200347) EIA Internal Report of Telephone Survey, July 2003

48) Independent consultants report commissioned byEIA/Telapak, 2001

49) CITES Doc 9.53: Interpretation and Implementationof the Convention Trade in Plant Specimens: Ramin,199450) Report of the Malaysia-The Netherlands Ad-HocExpert Group on Forest Management, Jan 1996;Independent consultants report commissioned by EIA/Telapak, 200151) EIA/Telapak, Timber Trafficking, 200152) Pers. comm., confidential, 19/8/0153) EIA/Telapak Field Investigations, 2000 -200154) Sarawak Tribune, 1st November 200355) PIERS Import Data, 2001-200256) PIERS Import Data 2001-2002; CITES Permitsobtained from US Fish & Wildlife Service, July 200257) US Public Access to Court Electronic Records(PACER) electronic system, December 200358) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,October 200359) Pers. Comm., Confidential, August 200360) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,

October 200361) Pers. comm., USFWS, 200262) Twins Furniture Sdn Bhd, website and brochure,200363) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,November 200364) CITES permits obtained from US Fish & WildlifeService, July 2002; Pers. comm., UK CITESManagement Authority, July 200365) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,November 2003; Independent consultants reportcommissioned by EIA/Telapak, 200166) EIA/Telapak Internal Report of Field Investigation,November 200367) Pers. comm., Twins Furniture Sdn Bhd executives,2003; Tiny Kins websitewww.tiny-kins.co.uk; Pers.comm., Tiny Kins, December 200368) PIERS Import Data69) PIERS Data; Pottery Barn Kids website, Jan 2004

References

JulianNewman/EnvironmentalInvestigationA

gency/Telapak

Back cover:Illegal logs in West Papua, Indonesia

Back cover picture: Dave Currey/Environmental Investigation Agency/Telapak

21


24/24

EIA UK62-63 Upper StreetLondon N1 0NYUnited [email protected] (+44) 20 7354 7960Fax (+44) 20 7354 7961

EIA USP.O. Box 53343Washington DC 20009USA

Tel (+1) 202 483 6621Fax (+1) 202 986 8626

TELAPAKJl. Palem Putri III No. 1-3Taman Yasmin Sektor VBogor, [email protected] (+62) 251 7159902Fax (+62) 251 508375

Profiting from Plunder

Documents

Transcript of Profiting from Plunder