The Chairperson of the Primary Production Committee is calling for public submissions on the Forests (Legal Harvest Assurance) Amendment Bill.

The Bill would amend the Forests Act 1949 to establish a legal harvest system. This system aims to provide assurance that timber supplied and traded has been harvested legally. The legal harvest system would require:

- that log traders, primary processors, importers, and exporters who operate above specified thresholds be registered;

- harvest information to be supplied to others when trading, and for records of that information to be kept;

- due diligence systems to eliminate or mitigate the risk of dealing in timber and timber products not legally harvested.

The Bill would also establish offences, penalties, and search powers to enforce the requirements of the legal harvest system.

Submissions on your thoughts on the Bill to the Primary Production Committee must be made by 11.59pm on Wednesday, 3 August 2022 at: Make a submission