instrument builders forum

[kiwigeo]

What new timber regulations?

[kiwigeo]

Appears to apply only to illegally logged timber:

The Australian Government has passed the Illegal Logging Prohibition Act 2012. The Act criminalises the importation into Australia of illegally logged timber and any product made from illegally logged timber as well as the processing of domestic raw logs which have been illegally logged. A maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, $85,000 for an individual and $425,000 for a corporation, plus forfeiture of timber product / raw logs applies where they are found to have to have imported or processed illegally logged timber and done so knowingly, intentionally or recklessly.

In addition, from 30th November 2014, the Illegal Logging Prohibition Amendment Regulation 2013 takes effect. This Regulation requires importers of regulated timber products and domestic processors of raw logs to have a complying due diligence system in place to minimise the risk of importing or processing illegally logged timber. The list of regulated timber products includes all sawn timber, decking, mouldings, plywood, particleboard, MDF, joinery items such as timber doors and windows, most pulp, paper and cardboard products as well as most timber and timber-framed furniture.

From 30th November 2014 criminal and financial sanctions will apply to importers of regulated timber products who are found to have to have imported illegally logged timber or a product containing illegally logged timber and who are found to have been negligent. Financial penalties will also apply to those individual or companies who don't implement a due diligence system that complies with the Regula


http://www.timberduediligence.com.au/

[Kamusur]

Sounds like once more the onus is on us "buyer beware" again.

Steve

[kiwigeo]

I suggest reading the explanatory notes on the website link I supplied above. Note the last paragraph below. In effect it's stating that due diligence requirements don't apply to a single shipment of less than $1000 value:

"6 Regulated timber products that are exempt

2. Subsection 6(1) prescribes products that are exempt for the purposes of paragraph 12(d) and paragraph 13(d) of the Act. The exemptions are:

· a regulated timber product that is entirely made from recycled material, or the recycled content, that is timber, of a regulated timber product that is partially made from such material; and

· a regulated timber product or products with a combined value of $1000 or less, per consignment. In practice, the 'value' is expected to mean the value of the product as declared to Customs in accordance with Customs Act 1901.

[dshaker]

Speaking from the US, where the Lacey Act has similar provisions, the problem isn't so much that one will not be able to get the wood one wants to make a guitar (though the wood of some endangered species will - and should - be more difficult to obtain). The issue is that if you want to SELL your guitar, your customer will not be able to move with the guitar across international borders if there is no documentation that the components of the guitar were legally obtained.

I think that this means that luthiers, the world over, have to start keeping records of where they bought their wood, which wood went into which guitar, and be willing to supply customers with a document stating where they got their materials.

A pain in the patoot? Sure, but really not onerous once you get started. Better than being partially responsible for tree species die out from clandestine logging.

[peter.coombe]

There is a major difference between the US and Australia. The regulated products in Australia are mostly raw materials and furniture, it does not include musical instruments. So, there should be no problem importing and exporting musical instruments into or out of Australia. That is not the case for the USA where import and export of musical instruments is a nightmare for small makers. Having read through some of the material, I have breathed a sigh of relief. We have not implemented the same mess they have in the USA.

Peter

[peter.coombe]

I noticed there is a column in todays Financial Review about this by the parliamentary secretary to the prime minister. Full of political BS and it appears the prick has not read the legislation. The legislation is quite simple, it makes it illegal to import illegally logged wood or to process logs that have been illegally logged domestically. I don't think many people would disagree with that! It is the enforcement of the legislation where it gets complicated, and the public servants seem to have made a bit of a meal of it. Enforcement is by regulation, so no legislative change is necessary if they want to make changes. The government of the day can choose to make it effective enforcement, or they can choose to make it ineffective or simple or complicated or whatever they like. It takes hours to read through all the paperwork and I don't have the time nor inclination. At the moment it appears to be effective but complicated, but what really is needed is effective and simple, so why doesn't this prick just say so. To call this the worst law ever and to blame it all on the Labour party and the Greens is a bit rich. Unfortunately it is difficult to effectively enforce this sort of thing and we seem to have adopted the American model of "due diligence" where you need to prove you are not breaking the law, rather than the other way around where you are assumed innocent until proven guilty, which is how it should be. Thankfully music instruments have not been deliberately targeted as happened in the USA. After all it is absurd to apply the same rules to a guitar that might contain 1kg of wood as that applies to several ton of logs, but that is what they have done in the US. Not only that but the same rules apply to vintage instruments where it is often impossible to say what the species of wood is and how much it weighs nor the country of origin. This bloke is correct, however, in saying that it is being used to circumvent free trade agreements (FTA). The Lacey Act amendments in the US are a back door trade barrier that makes the FTA between Australia and the USA a sick joke. I personally have lost 4 sales in the last 12 months because USA customers are scared shitless of the Lacey Act and the implications of they get the paperwork wrong.

End of venting.

Peter