Cairo, KL impose stricter import criteria on Finnish timber

Egypt and Malaysia have imposed stricter requirements on import of timber from Finland, said a press release issued by the Finnish Food Authority on Wednesday.

According to the export restriction as of 2018 and October 2019 respectively, all shipments of timber from Finland must be inspected separately.

Import permits to Egypt and Malaysia have to comply with the new requirement for physical inspection of each shipment.

Egypt now permits import only to a “shipment found, free from any live quarantine pests or diseases in the Egyptian ministerial decree...”

In Malaysia, the new requirement states: “Consignment must be inspected and tested according to appropriate official procedures and are considered to be free from soil, live pests...”

This means yearly inspection conducted at sawmill is no longer sufficient when exporting to these countries. The product must also meet the requirements imposed by the country of export, and it is the exporter’s duty to ensure compliance with the requirements. The requirements include a ban on quarantined species.

The procedure for submitting advance declarations of timber exports to Egypt and Malaysia has been updated and, from now on, all advance declarations for timber exports to these countries must be made by online form in order to ensure smooth customer service.