IBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW, TAMPER-FREE FOREST PRODUCT MONITORING

UNCLAS BRASILIA 001791 SIPDIS SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO STATE SCASWELL AND JMCALPINE OES/ETC; USFS LMAYHEW AND MZWEEDE; USAID LAC/RSD EGAT; FWS PETER THOMAS AND JILL BIRCHELL; DOI KATHRYN WASHBURN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: SENV TBIO KSCA BR SUBJECT: IBAMA ANNOUNCES NEW, TAMPER-FREE FOREST PRODUCT MONITORING SYSTEM REFTEL: BRASILIA 1651 ¶1. Summary: Ibama (Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency) officially published a normative instruction on August 23, creating a new system of Forest Origin Documents (DOF) to track Brazilian timber and timber derived products. The new system takes effect September 1 and aims to combat illegal deforestation by enforcing stricter control over the movement and storage of forest products. DOFs will replace the highly contentious and notoriously corrupt system of paper ATPFs (Forest Product Transport Authorizations) that have been the backbone of at least 10 separate schemes to illegally harvest and market illegal timber (reftel). End Summary ¶2. As of September 1 of this year a Forest Origin Document (containing specific information about a product's origin, volume and type) must accompany any forest product stored or transported in Brazil. Among the myriad of products requiring documentation are logs, sawed wood, piles, stakes, lumber, coal (derived from wood), xaxim, hearts of palm and wood product residues. These DOFs will replace Ibama's ATPFs, a monitoring system historically rife with graft and corruption. In fact, Ibama in conjunction with Brazil's Federal Police, have executed 10 sting operations over the past three years to break up illegal logging rings. In each of these cases, the lumber gangs utilized illicit ATPFs to circumvent enforcement mechanisms and to illegally sell timber. ¶3. In order to avoid the ATPF pitfall, Ibama authorities have centralized the new system and incorporated a number of features to stamp out corruption. Unlike ATPFs, handwritten, processed and distributed by individuals in Ibama offices, Ibama will generate and enforce DOFs from centralized computer system. To obtain a DOF an entrepreneur will access a website from where he/she can print off the document. However, to access the system the individual or entity must be enrolled in Brazil's Federal Technical Register after proving that he/she has been a part of any environmental crime/irregularity. Once in the system, the DOF is only emitted if the product proves consistent with the holding's forest management plan. Any product registered on the system must come from titled, registered land containing a management plan for deforestation. As Ibama is responsible for approving all management plans they are also aware of the amount of wood that can be taken from any given area. If data is inconsistent, the system will not emit the document of origin. DOFs will also expire after substantially shorter periods of time than ATPFs, which are valid for up to 90 days. Henceforth, a DOF for products transported in-state is valid for 5 days, 10 days for interstate travel and a maximum of 30 days for logs transported by barge. Finally, Ibama claims the document will be far more difficult to forge. ¶4. Interestingly, backlash from loggers accustomed to business-as-usual practices is already being felt in the field. Ibama stopped issuing ATPFs some 40 days ago, although the DOF system has yet to come online. Subsequently, the local manager of Ibama's office in Santarem, in the state of Para, resigned today bowing to pressure from the association of timber processing industries, whose members have been unable to extract or transport timber for over six weeks. ¶5. Comment: After nearly two years of waiting, the new system for monitoring the movement of forest products is finally ready. Patching up many of the holes that bred corruption with ATPFs, the new DOFs appear, on paper, to have a legitimate chance of working. For Ibama and the federal police the key issue now is implementation and enforcement. Apprehending illegal forest products and actually keeping them off the roads will remain Ibama and the Federal Police's biggest challenge. End Comment SOBEL