APEC Members Working on Targeting and Identification of Illegal Wood Shipments
Officials from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries are refining targeting and forensic identification methods to distinguish between legal and illegal wood at customs checkpoints, according to an Aug. 22 news release detailing an ongoing APEC meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam. APEC members are sharing guidance to inform handling of shipments upon discovery and to support more effective preventive action, the release says. Approaches include opening communication lines to curtail fake document use as well as bribery and corruption linked to “high-level perpetrators,” the release says.
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Members are also working to increase the sophistication of tools to address illegal timber trade, including through traceability systems, ongoing public-private coordination to align APEC members’ wood product certification programs, and compliance and product legality monitoring, the release says. “Customs are the first and last line of defense against timber smuggling, fraud and illegalities during export, re-export, transit and import but they can’t operate in a vacuum,” Federico Lopez-Casero of the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies said in a statement. APEC Ministers Responsible for Forestry will meet in Seoul Oct. 30 - Nov. 1 to advance and build upon policy tools discussed in Ho Chi Minh City.