Dear Editor,
I do not agree with the conclusion of some experts that unproven legalities and a supposed lack of sustainability within our forest sector is why Guyanese timbers cannot be used in government procurement projects in the UK. The projects in the UK are mentioned here because this is the latest situation which is causing concern in the logging industry. However our country has a long history of many obstacles placed in our way with wood, bauxite and sugar, to name a few.
I believe that there is a deliberate attempt to shut Guyana out of foreign markets by much bigger and powerful business influences in more powerful countries than Guyana. During my stay in the US I worked extensively in the flooring industry, as a salesperson for wood, ceramic and carpet. One does not earn a salesperson position without going through the training of knowing a lot about the products and the business – theory, the raw material, country of origin, compatibility of the country of origin with American values, manufacturing, market forces, purchasing attitudes of customers, distribution and sales techniques, the whole nine yards.
At one time, attractive and cheaper wood floors manufactured in China appeared on the market. Well, China is too powerful to be restricted – their products get on the shelves, or in our case of wood floors, into the showrooms. How did we counteract this? We played on the sensitivity of the American customers. We placed large ‘Made In America’ signs on the American designs. Then we found out that American companies were hiring mills in China to manufacture some of the floors – well some of the floors were actually American made in China. We rearranged our sales strategy.
The above is mentioned to illustrate that big businesses in powerful countries will always place obstacles in our way so as to protect their business in the global market place. That is why I am frustrated with experts who get carried away by so called certification requirements and a whole lot of hoops the businesses of this country have to jump through to get our products on the world market while not understanding the true meaning for the requirements.
Wood is big business in the world. Wood producers in the US and Canada are clashing every day. They fight for their Pine and Douglas Fir and a few other species. The US loggers are mad that Canadian wood, a lot subsidized, can enter the American market place and compete with them. There is daily lobbying to stop imports of wood from Canada. But Canada is a powerhouse on its own. Their woods continue to flow into the US.
I do not think that Guyanese wood producers should be made to think that the Russian, Canadian and US wood producers are purer than us here in Guyana. Far from it. I have done a lot of traversing of Guyana logging forest. The GFC is doing a good job keeping the players within local forestry guidelines. If one is an environmentalist and is sensitive to the felling of trees, just visit the Home Depot or Lowes Home Improve-ment stores this coming Christmas season and witness the number of slaughtered pine trees that will be coming in to be used as Christmas trees in many homes.
Let us look at our own Barama. Sometime around the early 2000s a superior quality of plywood from that company hit the US market place. Instantaneously the company was made to submit to certification guidelines. My understanding is that to this day the certification process is ongoing. A company was hired and comes in to do the certification, taking payment but nothing positive is happening.
Think about it. I want to be bold and state that Guyana beats every other country in the world with the amount of available and superior wood species. In the area of plywood, if Barama is allowed to supply a superior product to the world market some big businesses will lose sales. They are not going to let that happen easily. Compare treated pine poles with wallaba poles and consider all the other wood species with greenheart topping the list. There is a subtle but sinister push back going on. We have to first understand that, believe it to be true and plan accordingly.
Chinese iron/steel is entering the US and US manufactures are not taking it lightly. However they cannot stop it. China is a big lender to the US government so China gets a pass. If it were Guyanese ore threatening the US market place the ore may have been deemed ‘blood ore’ or ‘inhumanely produced’ or any other gimmick to stop the import. Can we remember the decline of bauxite after the company was nationalized? Now that bauxite is in foreign hands again, Guyana’s bauxite has new value.
In my view, and given my experience in the wood business environment in the US and a subscriber to wood magazines, I do not expect that the Guyana wood businesses will be allowed to get it right with certification. There will always be excuses about the ability to verify and such like. We have to decide on a different strategy to make a breakthrough. I feel our marketing strategy is flawed and needs fixing.
Within the industry I find that every single producer/concessionaire wants to produce, transport, mill in some cases, find foreign markets and export on their own. So in this, our certification world everyone needs to get certification and to compound the situation no one can do all those things efficiently. Guyana’s forest industry suffers.
There is hardly a product on the market that is sold by the production company. The producers generally hire or sell products to marketing/distribution companies who handle the nitty-gritty parts of the deals and sales. Guyanese log/timber producers need to hire a major distribution company, one with enough clout to stave off circumstances like the UK situation. Of course that will mean selling for a little less, but one will be rewarded with higher and consistent sale volumes.
I was wondering how it is that Africa can be doing more sustainable forestry management and harvesting than us in Guyana. I am now hearing, true or false, that the log species from Africa, which has replaced our greenheart in the UK is harvested/supplied by a major Dutch company. We need to confirm this. In any case, in situations like these we need to follow the money. But money is not a bad thing. It is needed to rectify the situations Guyana’s forestry industry now faces.
Maybe if Mr Hamley Case fails at convincing the UK government to change their stance, a good recourse may be to sell our greenheart to the Dutch company and let that company wipe away the ‘certification’ issues.
Yours faithfully,
F Skinner
