AHEC has recently been made aware that the Australian Department of Agriculture has significantly ramped up its compliance activity with respect to the AUSILPAR. They are taking a tougher stance on requiring importers to gather information on where their imported wood is harvested.
In an April 2023 update on illegal logging reforms, they set out the minimum requirements for information that importers should gather, as follows:
- The type and trade name of the product being imported.
- The name (common or scientific) of the tree/s the timber has come from.
- The country, region and harvesting unit from where the timber was harvested.
- The country where the product was manufactured.
- The product supplier’s details, including name, address, trading name, and business
identification numbers. - The quantity of product being imported (in volume, weight, or number of units).
- Documents provided by the supplier in relation to the product’s purchase.
- Any information or documents demonstrating the timber was legally harvested.
Despite external evidence that US hardwoods are low risk, they want to be able to see that importers are doing everything within their power to comply fully with the regulation. The simplest way to do this is for the importer to request an AHEP with every consignment. It is, therefore, AHEC’s advice that AHEC Members should provide an AHEP by default with all shipments of US hardwoods to Australia.
The compliance activity also extends to furniture imported in to Australia manufactured from US hardwoods in other countries, such as Vietnam.
For further clarification on this issue or for any additional information, please contact: rod@americanhardwood.org.
