Furniture and wood carving produced in the Indonesian city of Jepara and its surrounding area on the north coast of Java Island is widely known for its unique designs and high quality.
Wood products from Indonesia — especially furniture — are exported to more than 100 countries, at an increasing rate. The United States is the primary destination, and tallied with Japan and three European Union (EU) countries, the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, the country is one of five top destination countries.
However, the high demand for wood products also has a big impact on raw material extraction. To ensure timber is sourced legally, Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Forestry introduced the Indonesian Timber Legality Assurance System, known by its Indonesian acronym SVLK, in 2009.
SVLK is an instrument that supports efforts to improve forestry sector governance. Through its alignment with the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between the EU and Indonesia, the origin of wood is tracked to ensure it is legally extracted.
Since the mandatory requirement of SVLK licenses, Indonesian exporters have seen a steady increase in demand from EU countries. Additionally, since the licenses are only issued for legally-sourced wood, it reinforces sustainable forest management practices in Indonesia.
SVLK applies to all business actors of various scales. Through this system, industrial operators and traders are expected to be certified. However, this raises concerns about the extent to which small-scale producers must meet the standards required to obtain an SVLK certificate.
Gaining certification for their export products contributes to efforts to increase the quality of business or upgrade MSMEs in the wood processing sector. However, the problem for these entities is not only about the legality of the wood source, but also legality of their businesses.
Part of the SVLK process demands legality of the enterprises. Once they operate under a legal business permit and improve their practices, then they can request an audit. When they have the SVLK certificate, they can start sending their products for export, and they can apply for credit to expand their business.
Inspiration Source: https://forestsnews.cifor.org/70602/going-global-wood-product-certification-requires-broad-legal-arena?fnl=en
