Following discussions with industry stakeholders in mid 2014, FWPA initiated the development of an industry discussion paper to identify potential R&D priorities for the export log and woodchip sector. As a result of consideration and recommendations by the Sustainability and Resources Advisory Group (SRAG) an investment plan aimed to reduce the cost and compliance of exporting wood products has been approved.
The SRAG noted the points in the document that a lot of cost and compliance burdens applied to export wood products were a direct consequence of export wood fibre being assessed for import risk at the same level as other agricultural and horticultural products in terms of biosecurity and human health issues. Although this was primarily a policy matter, SRAG considered that any research that would support longer term policy reform in this area would be of substantial benefit to the industry.
