The Indonesian government plans to provide some value added tax (VAT) relief as well as relief on legality requirements for wood products in order to boost exports.
Indonesia’s Minister of Trade has reported that, on instructions from the President, he will prepare proposals for relieving some of the burden of SVLK certification which the timber industry has been requesting for some time.
The approach being considered is to require SVLK certification only of upstream segments of the timber industry and eliminate the SVLK requirement for downstream industries. Airlangga Hartarto, Minister of Trade indicated a revision of the VAT will be made for the benefit of wood product exporters. According to the Minister this new policy is intended to boost the competitiveness of the furniture industry.
The Ministry of Industry also plans to offer incentives for wood product exporters.