U.S.-Singapore FTA fails to stop illegal timber imports

U.S.-Singapore FTA fails to stop illegal timber imports    A large environmental protection group says a U.S.-Singapore free trade agreement has done nothing in the past two years to stop illegal Southeast Asian timber imports from passing through Singapore.
   The Environmental Investigation Agency, based in Washington, said a side agreement to the free trade agreement “remains nothing but an empty promise.” The free trade agreement became effective in January 2004.
   The Bush administration is publicly committed to combating illegal logging, which results in about $1 billion lost annually to the U.S. timber industry, both in devalued domestic sales and lost exports. The American Forest & Paper Association places the global value of illegally sourced logs, timber and plywood at $23 billion.
   “Yet, due to lack of political will and unwillingness to provide financial support for measures to prevent trade in illegal timber and other environmentally sensitive goods, such as improving customs in Singapore, the governments have done nothing to halt this destructive trade,” the group said.
   “The recent Indonesian seizure of two barges en route to Singapore packed    with illegal endangered wood demonstrates that the city-state remains a haven for timber smugglers,” the group added.