The European Union agreed Thursday to recognize Indonesian licences for timber exports, a move that should make it easier for the southeast Asian country to sell its timber products abroad.

Indonesia is one of the world‘s largest exporters of tropical timber, with around 60 per cent of its land covered in forest, according to the EU. Exports include products such as plywood, pulp, paper and furniture.

Jakarta will be able to issue EU-recognized timber export licences independently as of November 15, the European Commission said. Up until now, the bloc has been directly involved in the approval process.

The move will effectively implement an agreement signed by Brussels and Jakarta in 2013 aimed at curbing illegal logging - the first such deal with an Asian country.

The deal, known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, is designed to help the EU identify unlicensed Indonesian products and prevent them from entering the region‘s markets.

The bloc hopes that the new licencing scheme will also act as a global badge of credibility for Indonesian timber exports, an EU source said Thursday.

One third of the EU‘s tropical timber imports comes from Indonesia, representing 11 per cent of the country‘s exported wood products and paper, the commission said.

Licencing negotiations are underway with 14 other timber producing countries in southeast Asia and Africa, covering almost a quarter of the world‘s tropical forests and 80 per cent of the EU‘s tropical timber imports, according to the commission.

(Source: en.europeonline-magazine.eu)