Implementation of FLEGT - TLAS in Sabah:

Issues, Challenges & Recommended Strategies

Contents

• Background

• Timber Legality Assurance System of Sabah

• Objectives and Scope of Audit

• Key Output of TLAS Audit

• Feature of 2013

• Overall assessment

• Issues and Challenges

• Recommended Strategies

Background

• SFD is committed to comply with the

International agreements of EU on FLEGT -

TLAS mechanism within SFMLA/LTL areas

based on existing laws & regulations governing

forest harvesting, mill operations & timber trade.

Timber Legality Assurance System

of Sabah (Sabah TLAS)

Timber Legality Assurance System consists of:

• Definition of legal timber based on an agreed set

of Principles and Criteria that refer to relevant

laws, regulations and operation procedures.

• Control procedures for verifying compliance to

legality of timber covering forest harvesting,

transportation, mill operation, import and export.

• Negotiations between Malaysia & EU – started

in 2006.

• TLAS commenced in May 2009, partially

supported by GTZ of Germany & the

Government of the Netherlands.

• In its inception, Global Forestry Sdn. Bhd.

(GFS), appointed as 3rd party auditor to conduct

field assessments.

Cont. -

Sabah TLAS

• Project key objective - was to develop and

implement a field verification system for legal

compliance to fulfill Principles 1 to 4 of the

Sabah TLAS under the FLEGT / VPA (Voluntary

Partnership Agreement) process.

• The verification process is based on continuous

monitoring of 29 long-term Forest Management

Units (FMUs) & the licensing of harvest areas in

compliance to the Sabah Legality Standard.

Cont. -

Sabah TLAS

• It has been in operation since its initial inception

& has undergone 6 stakeholder reviews as part

of the continuous development.

• SFD collaboration with GFS has outlined &

revised the checklist for Principles 1-4 of the

Sabah TLAS standard & regulated according to

the current auditing system.

Cont. -

Sabah TLAS

Cont. –

Sabah TLAS

• The checklist comprises of 4 Principles with 30

criteria (12 Critical Criteria must be in full

compliance & 18 Non Critical Criteria):

Principle 1: Right To Harvest (8 CC & 7 NCC)

Principle 2: Forest Operation (3 CC & 8 NCC)

Principle 3: Statutory Charges (1 CC)

Principle 4: Other Users’ Right (3 NCC)

Objectives & Scope of Audit

1. To ensure continuous compliances from

SFMLA/LTL holders.

2. To improve the performance of the SFMLA/LTL

holders.

3. To upgrade the skills and capacity of the Sabah

Forestry Department’s Officers.

4. To instill transparency and professionalism.

5. To evaluate the corrective action taken by

SFMLA/LTL holders.

Key Output of TLAS Audit

GFS provides assessment reports regarding each

standard indicated.

Identify and categorize gap in compliances &

recommend corrective measures.

Assess the adequacy of the Guidelines &

Checklists provided and propose improvements

where appropriate.

Feature of 2013

• Increase in compliance amongst SFMLA/LTL holders

• 4.93%, to 93.56% on the average compliance scores

High achievers with 100% scores1. Maxland Sdn. Bhd(SFMLA 01/2007) FMU17A

2. Maxland Sdn. Bhd(SFMLA 01/2007) FMU17B

3. Maxland Sdn. Bhd(SFMLA 01/2007) FMU17B(Area C)

4. Lebihasil Sdn. Bhd. (SFMLA01/2005) FMU 17A

5. Lebihasil Sdn. Bhd. (SFMLA01/2005) FMU 17B

6. KTS Plantation Sdn. Bhd. (JP(SLK)125/96(CO)

7. KM Hybrid Plantation Sdn. Bhd. (SFMLA01/2004) FMU 11

8. Top Quantum Sdn. Bhd. (SFMLA01/2009) FMU 25

Graph showing the percentage of compliance

in previous audit (2011/2012) and 2013 audit

Weighting Procedure

Critical Criteria : Compliance must achieve 80 % and above of the total criteria.

Non Critical Criteria: Full Compliance must achieve at least 80 % compliance of the total criteria, whereas

Partial Compliance is at 50 % to 80 % compliance of the total criteria. Anything below 50 % would be considered

Non Compliance.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Lebi

hasil

S/B

(FM

U17A

)

Lebi

hasil

S/B

(FM

U 17

B)

Max

land

S/B

(FM

U 17

A)

Max

land

S/B

(FM

U 17

B are

a B)

Max

land

S/B

(FM

U 17

B are

a C)

KTS P

lanta

tion

S/B

KM H

ybrid

Plan

tatio

n S/

B

Top

Quan

tum

S/B

Saba

h Fo

rest

Indu

strie

s S/B

TH-U

sia Ja

timas

Jaya

kuik

S/B

Raky

at B

erjay

a S/B

(FM

U15)

Born

ion T

imbe

r S/B

Bega

raya

S/B

First

Gree

nwor

ld S/

B

TSH

Reso

urce

s Bhd

Raky

at B

erjay

a S/B

(FM

U16)

Raky

at B

erjay

a S/B

(FM

U 24

)

Sapu

lut F

ores

t Dev

elop

men

t S/B

TH-B

ongg

aya

Eco-

Plan

tatio

n S/

B

Raky

at B

erjay

a S/B

(FM

U23)

Timbe

rwel

l Bhd

Anika

Des

iran

S/B

Com

plian

ce S

core

(%)

SFMLA/LTL Holder

Previous audit (2011/2012)

Present Audit (2013)

Overall Assessment

Principles in order of ease of compliance:

• Principle 3 (Statutory Charges) - 92.86%

• Principle 2 (Forest Operation) - 90.50%

• Principle 1 (Right To Harvest) - 90.45%

• Principle 4 (Other Users Right) - 82.69%

Table showing overall average compliance for

applicable criteria within each principle

Principle: CriterionTotal

indicators

Compliance %

(2013)

1. Right to harvest 1.1 - 3.8 14 90.45

2. Forest operation 4.1 - 10.2 12 90.50

3. Statutory

changes11.1 1 92.86

4. Other user's

right12.1 - 12.3 3 82.69

Overall average compliance 30 89.13

Chart showing comparison of compliance for

each principle between previous audit

(2011/2012) and 2013 audit

0

20

40

60

80

100

Principle 1: Right To Harvest

Principle 2: Forest

Operation

Principle 3: Statutory Charges

Principle 4: Other Users'

Right

Co

mp

lian

ce s

core

(%

)

Principle

Previous Audit (2011/2012)

Present Audit (2013)

Overall Assessment (cont.)

Criteria 1.4 (69.23%) Inadequate system to protect license area from illegalexploitation

Criterion 3.2 (75%) Lack of inventory result to define forest condition in theForest Management Plan

Criterion 4.4 (76.92%) Inadequate planning for road access and protection againstfire especially in establishment of Forest management Plan

Criterion 2.2 (77.27%) Implementation of EIA mitigation measure

Criterion 12.2 (78.5%)Unable to adequately define third-party claims, lack ofdiscussion with community involved and poor record ofdiscussion held with villagers

Issues & Challenges

Participation of stakeholders & commitment

- Substandard level

Inter-department coordination & collaboration

- Have yet to be mainstream standard

Capacity building

- Inept & lack of support

Imported timber and legality of resource

- Ongoing negotiations

Lack of financial resources

- Minimal funding allocated

Finality of FLEGT-VPA negotiations

- Awaiting agreement & results of discussions

Pressure for “Green Lane”

Recommended Strategies

1. Mobilization, Cooperation and Commitment

o Organized structure, proper designation & established

representation

o Information-sharing mechanism

o Continual and unremitting affiliation & coagency between

departments

o Appropriate training & exercise

o Country exchange mission

Recommended Strategies

2. External and foreign assistance

Organizations providing funding support:

ITTO’s Tropical Forest Law Enforcement & Trade (TFLET) Thematic Programme

Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management (APFNet)

Organizations providing technical support:

European Forest Institute’s EU FLEGT Facility

EU-FAO FLEGT provides both finance and technical support as well as providing

information services to increase the availability of FLEGT-related information and

knowledge and to promote experience sharing among local stakeholder groups

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) provides support focusing

mainly on technical assistance and capacity building in deterrent efforts against criminal

practices including illegal logging and other forest-related crimes.

Recommended Strategies

3. Segregation of timber imports and exports

• Proper & applicable segregation of resources

based on legality and traceability

4. Resolution and authoritativeness

• Due deliberation and organizational attentiveness

• Swift clearance of bottle necks situation

Conclusions

•SFD will persist & make headway to administer the

TLAS to combat illegal timber trade & illegal logging

at the domestic & international scale in line with the

vision & mission of the SFD.

•The system will significantly elevate the level of

traceability & decrease the volume of illegal logging

& only legal timbers are traded in the market.

•Finally SFD will be more capable & efficient in

implementing TLAS & coping with any future issues

in this system.

Thank you