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Bangkok Post - Jan
22, 2000
BURMA /
LOGGING Four firms cleared to import woodForestry agency to play
inspection role
Uamdao
Noikorn The Forestry Department has agreed to allow four
firms to import logs from Burma after the Customs Department agreed to joint
inspections of the timber at the border. A checkpoint is expected to be opened for the shipments by March, when
Agriculture Minister Pongpol Adireksarn is to go to Rangoon for talks. "Although no specific date on the government official's visit has been set,
it's understood the log transfers could start in May and be completed by July,"
said Taweesak Mongkolsokol, managing director of TMS Intertrade & Services
Co, a partner of Polpana Co which is one of the four firms. The others are B&F Goodrich Co, FA Pharmaceuticals Co and the Korean War
Veterans Welfare Organisation. The firms had a meeting with department officials on Wednesday concerning
changes to four conditions set by forestry chief Plodprasop Suraswadi to prevent
illegal logging in the Thai side of the Salween forest. Following the Customs Department's decision to allow forestry officials to
jointly inspect the logs, Mr Plodprasop cancelled a requirement for Thai
forestry officials to inspect the logs on Burmese soil to verify the number. He also revoked his requirement that a log yard be built near the border or a
checkpoint to prevent illegal logging. The companies will be allowed to store their logs, each tagged with the
firm's name and lot numbers, at a warehouse in town. "The inspection of logs before importing will be made on the Thai side to
check if they are dry. Fresh logs would indicate they are newly and illegally
cut," Mr Plodprasop said. The four traders have been seeking permission since 1998 to import cut trees
they said were left over from concession operations in Burma before the two
countries imposed a logging ban. There was a long delay in the official permission for the importation when it
was found that the figures supplied by the firms and by Rangoon authorities did
not match. |