New regulations could shut down timber industry

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56532297

New regulations could shut down timber industry
-FPA members tell forum
Stabroek New, Thursday, November 1st 2007

The lumber industry could be totally shut down come January 1 when new
regulations are implemented since many wood operators are simply not
ready for the major changes.

This was the feeling among the members of the Forest Products
Association (FPA) at a stakeholder forum for the wood sector held on
Tuesday at the King's Plaza Hotel on Main Street.

According to Kit Nascimento, Public Relations Consultant to the FPA, it
would be nigh impossible for the members to achieve the standards,
which he suggested seemed to be borrowed from some other part of the
world and forcibly superimposed on Guyana's industry.

With a view to moving the issue forward, the FPA has proposed its own
draft policies and procedures for the sawmilling sector and there
should be some form of engagement between the FPA and the Guyana
Forestry Commission (GFC). Companies not compliant with the regulations
face denial of licences.

Some of the new standards concern stacking and racking, end protection,
grading, cutting sizes for dressed lumber, moisture content, and
recovery rates. The standards also call for lumberyards to have hard
floors and for significant changes to be made to buildings housing
sawmills.

The FPA through its technical committee had approached the Government
with the hope of effecting some changes to the proposed standards. The
FPA said that for members to bring themselves in line with the new
standards, large sums of money will have to be invested in an industry
already facing burdens of VAT and high oil prices.

In a letter to Commissioner of Forests James Singh on October 6, 2007,
the FPA said that it realises that the GFC's intention is to move the
industry to a high level of quality consciousness "and we fully support
this thought."

The FPA called for further discussions to be held between itself and
the GFC on the best way of implementing the measures to achieve these
results.

The body said in its proposal to the Government that commercial market
forces, sustainable forest practices, maximum revenue earning
potential, environmental care and provision of employment must be the
criteria for dictating national policy and in driving the development
of the sector.

Log export ban

The FPA said that the imposition of restrictions and a ban on log
exports would be unproductive and unrewarding for Guyana. "It would
curtail timber production causing loss of employment, discourage
private sector investment in the industry, restrict export markets,
result in significant export revenue loss to the country, disable sound
environmental practices which are being developed and rupture the
confidence of present overseas customers and future investors," the FPA
said. At the moment the Government is considering various proposals for
the phased restriction of log exports.

According to the FPA, a balanced approach to sustain timber production
should be taken in order to enable the optimum production of primary
and processed products to respond directly to export and domestic
market demand and pricing.

The FPA said that the GFC has failed to make any assessment of labour
capacity to satisfy the increased demand which would result from
expanding sawmilling activities.

The FPA noted that both Demerara Timbers Limited and Barama Company
Limited are reporting shortages of skilled and unskilled labour.