The Russian forestry industry ready legislatively for change
Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko held the meeting with regions of the Far Eastern & Siberian federal districts on the implementation of the action plan for decriminalization and development of the forestry complex. The meeting took place during the Deputy PM's working trip to the Trans-Baikal Territory on 19 June 2021.
According to Ms Abramchenko, since the beginning of 2021, with the participation of the State Duma and the Federation Council, six key federal laws have been adopted (among others: No. 3-FZ, No. 303-FZ, No. 304-FZ), which are aimed at improving the procedure of forest management and reforestation, digital accounting of harvested and processed timber, as well as the procedure for its customs declaration.
In terms of decriminalization, a law was adopted on the total digitalization of the industry: traceability of the origin of wood from the logging to processing sites or to the border in the case of export. From July 1, 2021 everyone who works with wood is obliged to fill complete data into the information system of the Federal Forestry Agency. In the absence of the necessary information or their discrepancy, transactions with wood will be blocked. This rule will come into force without fail on January 1, 2022. In addition, a ban on the presence of logging equipment in the forest without title documents has been introduced, as well as the obligation of state institutions to sell the harvested wood at the exchange auction.
Ms Abramchenko recalled the instructions of the President to ban the export of round timber of coniferous and valuable deciduous species. The Deputy PM discussed additional measures for the effective transition from a raw model of forest management not only with the governments of the regions, but also with business representatives, "I repeat: Russia no longer considers coniferous and valuable deciduous round wood as an export commodity. We leave raw materials inside the country and stimulate deep processing of wood. This will create new jobs, reorient our industry to products with high added value, "said the Deputy PM.
At the same time, the transition from a raw model is already accompanied by a program of state support for small and medium-sized enterprises. "For small and medium-sized businesses involved exclusively in timber harvesting, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has prepared and is implementing a program for the modernization and creation of facilities for deep processing of timber. Currently 20 applications have been submitted for a total amount of over 1 billion rubles. Five of these applications are from the timber industry of the Far Eastern Federal District: Zabaikalsky and Khabarovsk Territories, "said Ms Abramchenko.
The Deputy PM instructed the Federal Customs Service and Federal Forestry Agency to establish obligatory information interaction. "Yesterday we visited the Trans-Baikal railway checkpoint. This is the largest forest crossing point in the country. Through it, about 30% of round wood and 45% of sawn timber from the Far East are annually exported to China. We got acquainted with the procedure for controlling the export of timber and the interaction of two Services - Federal Customs Service and Federal Forestry Agency. Not everything is perfect, not all by-laws have been adopted. I ask my colleagues to intensify interaction between the Services. On January 1, 2022, by the time the ban or the export of round timber comes into force, the interaction must be perfect, "said Ms Abramchenko.
http://government.ru/news/42551/
LAN team Moscow