Announcement date
10 February 2023
Link to announcement
Illegal logging - DAFF (agriculture.gov.au)
Problem being addressed
Pilot testing suggests that there may still be volumes of illegal timber on the market in Australia, as the species and origin have been incorrectly identified. Under current regulations, verifying if timber was legally harvested, identifying breaches and taking appropriate and timely action is challenging. This is because due diligence information is provided after timber is imported or processed. It is also difficult to prove that timber was illegally harvested without using timber testing technologies. The current reliance on desktop audits for compliance action can be inefficient and ineffective in some scenarios.
Proposal
The department will pursue seven reforms to the legislation to ensure that the illegal logging laws create an efficient regulatory framework in line with international best practice. Amendments to due diligence requirements and the implementation of timber testing technologies, supported by sampling and seizure powers, will support industry and regulators to verify claims about timber species, origin, and legality. This option will also ensure that regulatory impacts do not burden businesses and individuals any more than necessary. The seven reforms and their level of impact are shown in the table below.
Table 3 Level of impact the potential reforms are predicted to have on reducing illegally logged products entering the Australian market
Reform Level of impact
Reform 1: Receiving due diligence information upfront High
Reform 2: Sampling, seizure and detainment powers High
Reform 3: Streamlined due diligence for low-risk pathways Low/negligible
Reform 4: Reducing repeated due diligence Low
Reform 5: Injunction and enforceable undertaking powers High
Reform 6: Publication powers for general compliance findings and instances of serious non-compliance Medium
Reform 7: Clarifying certain definitions Low
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Good practice
Regulatory burden
The proposal will reduce regulatory burden by an estimated $2.8 million per year.