A little background information on obtaining logging concessions in foreign countries.
Awarding of Concessions and Licenses to Log
The awarding of concessions and other licenses to log as a result of political patronage, rather than open competitive tender, has been the norm rather than the exception in many countries. All too often, the identity of concession holders is surrounded in secrecy, as is the actual location of concessions. Occasionally, this information has been leaked from forestry departments or made available through unofficial channels. Sometimes, the only information available is a list of the local concession holders rather than the identity of the ultimate owners and/or the sub-contractors who usually reap the rewards.
Most logging companies operating in tropical rainforest countries either have poor forestry management plans, which are rarely followed, or no plans at all. There are minimal, if any, on-site inspections by forestry departments or other government officials. The regulatory vacuum within which companies tend to operate at the site level is often a result of poor legislation and is always a result of serious funding shortages and a lack of trained, adequately paid personnel to monitor operations and enforce legislation. In addition to these institutional weaknesses, there is often a lack of political will. Instead, there are relationships of patronage between companies and political elites at local or national levels, resulting in unofficial payments at the local level rather than judicial proceedings for misdemeanors, or resulting in changes to policy and legislation to the benefit of companies. Companies also offer strong resistance to changes which might introduce tighter controls on the logging industry or more stringent fiscal policies. They have even been accused of installing governments to suit their interests.
Brazil
Illegalities are widespread in the Amazon logging industry, although prior to 1996 there was little recognition by government that this was a national problem. The illegal trade in mahogany had been uncovered by a number of investigations, the destination being the USA and UK markets, as well as the domestic market.
Publicity about the rapidly increasing levels of deforestation in the Amazon, including the massive extent of fires raging out of control, the increasing revelations about the extent of illegal logging by national and international companies and fears about the impacts of the new Asian arrivals have prompted much debate. All companies bought or incorporated by Asian groups have acquired or created environmental liabilities represented by: irregular management plans; successive official statements of infraction for buying or transporting wood of unknown origin and some for extraction or buying of wood from indigenous territories. Among 13 transnational companies investigated, 12 had environmental transgressions in forest management; irregular buying of wood or wood from indigenous lands; 10 had irregular or sub-standard management plans; 5 had penalties as a result of monitoring and enforcement; 4 had been accused of not respecting the rights of indigenous peoples.
According to the Congress report, the strategy of the Asian loggers in the Amazon, principally from Malaysia, has been to buy established companies or form joint ventures with business people and to form coalitions with regional interests who defend them, such as governors; prefects; deputies; business groups. While the amount of land bought by these TNCs (Transnational Corporations) is relatively small, about 1.5 million ha. The significant fact according to the Congress report is that they have installed themselves in the two principal timber centres in the country: Belem and Manaus, with the intention of dominating the industry in the medium term. The state of Amazonas is one of the more remote areas of the Amazon and has not been heavily exploited to date but the influence of TNCs is significant, accounting for 93.7% of total exports from the country in 1997.
http://www.forestsmonitor.org/en/reports/550066/550073
