Hon Diane Evers questions the Minister for Forestry regarding the Forest Products Commission's (FPC) timber contracts and log export practices, specifically whether contracts mandate value-adding before resale and if whole log exports are permitted. The Minister clarifies the conditions under which log exports are allowed, particularly for native forest trials and pine/sandalwood when not conflicting with agreements.

AnsweredQoN 434Legislative Council
Asked
8 May 2019
Portfolio
Forestry

QuestionView source ↗

FOREST PRODUCTS COMMISSION
— LOG EXPORT
434. Hon DIANE EVERS to the minister representing the
Minister for Forestry:
I refer to the contracts that the
Forest Products Commission has for the supply of timber.
(1) Do all
contracts that the FPC has with purchasers require the purchaser to ''add
value'' to the wood before they are able to on-sell it?
(2) If no to (1),
does the FPC allow logs to be exported by purchasers in the same state they are
supplied—that is, whole logs, no milling?
(3) If no to (2),
is the minister aware of any instances in which purchasers under contract with
FPC have exported whole logs—that is, no milling or value added; and,
if so, what were the repercussions to the contracted purchaser?

AnswerView source ↗

I
thank the member for the question. The following information has been provided
to me by the Minister for Forestry.
(1) No.
(2) For native
forest contracts of sale, some export of logs is permitted to facilitate trials
to investigate the development of new products and technologies, with the aim
of establishing new domestic processing industries. For pine and sandalwood
contracts of sale, the government's preference is for logs to be
processed in Western Australia. However, logs can be exported provided the sale
does not conflict with state agreements or other contracts of sale.
(3) Not applicable.

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