Brazil exported thousands of shipments of unauthorized wood from Amazon port
BRASILIA, (Reuters) Over the past year Brazil exported thousands of cargoes of wood from an Amazonian port without authorization from the federal environment agency, increasing the risk they originated from illegally deforested land, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
After customs officials in Europe and the United States alerted Brazil of the issue, the president of the Brazilian environment agency known as Ibama changed regulations to do away with previously required export authorizations, according to an internal document seen by Reuters.
The changes made by Ibama President Eduardo Bim overruled a technical opinion by five Ibama analysts who argued the export approvals should remain in place.
The two Ibama sources, who have both worked directly on wood inspection and spoke on the condition of anonymity due to concerns about professional repercussions, said the changes further weaken Brazil’s ability to control the export of illegally deforested wood.
Ibama responded to questions from Reuters with a detailed technical description of the current process for exporting wood, not mentioning the previous need for a separate authorization from the agency.
Ibama referred to export clearances given by the federal Revenue Service, saying they are only granted after cross referencing with the country’s system for overseeing wood to verify that it is of legitimate origin. Ibama is still able to make spot inspections of wood cargos headed for export, it said.
Pará, the Amazonian state from where the thousands of unchecked shipments of wood and lumber were exported, is a hotbed of deforestation.
For the 12 months through July 2019, Pará accounted for 40% of all illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, according to government data. The 3,862 square kilometers (1,491 square miles) destroyed there in one year is an area larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island.
The Amazon is the world’s largest rainforest and its protection is seen as vital to curbing climate change because of the vast amount of greenhouse gas that it absorbs and stores.
Destruction of the Amazon surged last year, provoking a global outcry, with some foreign leaders and environmentalists blaming the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro for emboldening illegal loggers, ranchers and land speculators.
Bolsonaro has said he is unfairly demonized and the fact that so much of the Amazon is still standing shows Brazil is a model for conservation.
FIVE CARGOES
The rule change scrapping Ibama’s authorizations for most timber exports came after five cargoes of wood arrived in U.S. and European ports earlier this year without Ibama authorization, the two sources said.