November 2004

1. Title of the Work Plan

Promoting cooperation among customs agencies and other relevant agencies in Asia to reduce the trade in illegal wood products.

2. Main objectives of the Work Plan

• Catalyze information sharing between enforcement agencies in exporting and importing countries to assist in enforcement efforts related to wood products trade.
• Strengthen the quality of documentation and requirements for documentation for wood products shipments to reduce fraud, falsification, and illicit acquisition of documents.

3. Expected results

• Greater understanding of the information needs of customs and related agencies for more effective enforcement.
• Agreement on how to share information more effectively between those agencies.
• Identification of key “hotspots” of illegal export and import, places that require special attention
• Agreement on appropriate enhancements to documentation and documentation requirements to reduce illegal trade.

4. Modalities/Procedures

This work will focus on Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan and Korea. The following steps are proposed:

• Small technical workshops among the key agency practitioners from each country, hosted by one of the countries (possibly Indonesia or Malaysia)
• Sharing of results and findings through AFP, FLEG and other regional processes
• Field research to document the “techniques” of the trade in illegal wood
• High-level awareness raising and outreach about the issues and solutions

5. Time frame

• Jan-March 2005: Ongoing research and information gathering, interviews with key officials
• March 2005: business leaders meeting on illegal logging in Hong Kong (convened separately by The Forests Dialogue)
• April-June 2005: Small workshop(s) and follow up as needed to identify the actions needed and priorities
• July-September 2005: preparation of conclusions and promotion of recommendations

6. Arrangements for potential funding

TNC can contribute $100,000 (possibly more) towards the cost implementation of this workplan.

Coordination
The Nature Conservancy

7. Partners involved

Governments: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan and Korea, UK/EU
Intergovernmental Organizations: ITTO
NGOs: The Nature Conservancy (confirmed), WWF
 

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