The state should support the wood industry and provide raw materials instead of exporting them

The House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament today held a thematic session dedicated to the state and prospects of the wood processing industry in the Federation of BiH, where the urgent need for the adoption of a law on forests was highlighted, as there has been no such law since 2009, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

The Minister of Agriculture, Water Management, and Forestry of the FBiH, Šemsudin Dedić, stated that after the adoption of the Law on Forests, for which a public debate has been completed, a decision will be made on the sale of forest raw materials from state forests.

Representatives of the wood sector, including the largest number of furniture manufacturers, emphasized that this sector can be protected by preventing the export of raw materials to preserve wood, especially beech, oak, maple, and ash. Instead of securing raw materials for domestic producers, they are exported and sold at low prices. 

It is interesting that we have two and a half times more processing capacity than available raw material quotas. Furniture manufacturers face numerous problems, including the procurement of raw materials, unregulated legislation, high parafiscal charges, and a lack of understanding from local communities.

Incidentally, the wood industry sector represents a great development opportunity, and it is known that BiH furniture manufacturers are recognized worldwide.

The president of the Association of Furniture Manufacturers, Ramiz Grapkić, previously told the agency Patria that the Association initiated the adoption of a decision that would favor final producers. The state would also benefit from this.

- This would create an additional 10,000 jobs in furniture production. Each job in the wood industry creates another job. We have not encountered understanding. The political climate is such that our good ideas have not been realized.

Neighboring countries have developed clear concepts to protect domestic producers. For example, Montenegro has banned the export of timber from state forests and charges 10 euros per cubic meter for exports from private forests. Croatia is doing everything to protect its producers, and factories have contracts with Hrvatske šume (Croatian Forests) for ten years with clearly defined prices. Similarly, Croatia has established criteria for the distribution of raw materials based on the degree of finalization, thus protecting domestic producers.

Albania has banned logging in state forests for ten years. In Romania, processors in state forests can only purchase 30 percent of their required raw materials.