Wood product makers ease off on exports after PM's order
Wood product makers ease off on exports after PM's order
The Lao National Wood Products Industry Association (LNWPIA) expects the export and production of timber products to return normal following the Prime Ministerial Order that was issued in May.
The order instructed ministries and provinces to delegate responsibility in implementing measures that prohibit the export of timber, unprocessed wood, and non-timber forest products.
The prohibition covered the logging quota previously approved by the government, meaning that all forms of logs and timber must be fully processed and converted into finished products before being exported.
President of the LNWPIA, Mr Thongsavanh Soulignamat, said the association is waiting to see how strictly the order is followed before making any decisions about the way in which timber products are processed for export.
The association is still considering the extent to which it should produce or even stop the export of wood products, based on what is best for its members and the industry as a whole.
Mr Thongsavanh said the government announced several years ago that it would stop the export of unprocessed timber, as it wanted more value to be added to the country's wood prior to export.
But enforcement of the policy was ineffective as unprocessed wood continued to leave the country in substantial quantities and the makers of wood products were reluctant to increase output for the export market.
About US$200 million worth of Lao timber products are exported annually, of which less than US$5 million are secondary processed timber products, according to a World Bank survey.
U nder the new Prime Ministerial order, the association will tread water and wait to see how many orders it gets before gearing up production.
Mr Thongsavanh said that if the order is complied with, it will help more than 1,000 wood-processing firms to get access to raw materials and enable them to add value to Lao wood resources for export.
The association currently has 128 wood-processing firms as members, who are ready to upgrade their operations so as to meet the standards required by importing countries, especially the EU.
The association is now drafting three reports for submission to the government. It is asking for help for timber products enterprises in obtaining raw materials and improving the quality of export products. It also needs the government's help with the storage of wood, assessment of wood processing methods to suit government regulations, setting standards, and a strategy for wood processing industry development for export.
Mr Thongsavanh hoped solutions to these issues would help timber product enterprises to turn out more items of a higher standard so they could compete with neighbouring countries in the export market.
