By J. P. EDWARDS, Deputy Director of Forestry, Federation of Malaya
MALAYA welcomes the opportunity of representation at this Conference because we feel that in the fields of management, silviculture, research and utilization, we have reached a stage of development which makes it possible for us to offer something to our neighbors in a spirit of international co-operation.
In spite of developments in the tin and rubber industries, Malaya is still largely a land of jungle, no less than 77 per cent of the total land area being under forest. Thanks to a sympathetic and consistently forest-minded government, coupled with sound forest administration in the past, a satisfactory proportion of 21 percent of the total land area has already been constituted Forest Reserve, and reservation is still incomplete in the Eastern States. Malaya owes a lot to those early foresters who so well and truly laid the foundations of the country's forest economy. It will not be out of place here to mention the names of A. M. Burn-Murdoch and G. E. S. Cubitt who came to Malaya from. India, bringing with them the great knowledge and experience they had gained in this, the nursery and first home of scientific forestry in Asia.
For a country of only 51,000 square miles (132,000 km²), less than twice the area of this State of Mysore, the production of timber, fuelwood, charcoal and other forest products is considerable. I will not weary the Conference with strings of figures here but would draw attention to the Note which has been circulated in which some of the more important Malayan forest statistics are set down.* The point I wish to make, however, is that potential timber production, working strictly within the limits of the sustained yield principle, is considerably greater than anything actually achieved, and that the present modest export of sawn timber [1,800,000 cubic feet over 51,000 m³ (s) or 36,000 tons in 1946] is capable of very considerable expansion. Many countries want timber and other forest products, but only a few have a surplus for disposal; the problem is to get those surpluses to the places they are most needed. This problem must be the concern of all of us, and its importance is emphasized by the main heading of this item of the Agenda, "Expansion of production and distribution of lumber and building materials." Governments, and international agreements between Governments, can help in this matter in various ways, such as the wise control of exports, the acceptance of standard nomenclature in respect of timbers and timber trade terms and the introduction and publication of agreed Grading Rules suitable to all markets. But the actual business of buying and selling timber should, in my opinion, be left to free commercial enterprise as untrammelled by irksome restrictions as possible. The timber trade in all countries is an old-established one and the men engaged in it are experts; help them and you help the flow and expansion of international trade - hinder them by restrictive regulations and you clog the wheels of industry with the sand of outmoded bureaucracy. Governments then - and conferences - must be very careful not to interfere with nom al trade channels.
* See "News of the World."
If that is agreed, how can this Conference help the timber trade? We can recommend to our governments, and through them to our forest departments, certain lines of action. Let us now consider these in more detail. First there is expansion of production. In Malaya this problem is being tackled by a comprehensive program of forest road construction which will, within the next few years, render accessible hitherto untouched areas of rich forest and which will have a marked effect on the availability of sawlog supplies to the mills.
UNIFORM NOMENCLATURE
Next there is the question of a uniform nomenclature for commercial timbers which is particularly desirable to facilitate the trade between Asian countries. What we require is a standard of reference which will enable the importer in Bombay, for instance, to know exactly what he is likely to get if he orders say keruing from Malaya, apitong from the Philippines, or yang from Siam. A considerable amount of work has, however, already been done in this field and the attention of the Conference is drawn to the publication Nomenclature of Commercial Timbers issued by the British Standards Institution which gives the standard name, botanical identity, and sources of supply of timbers, both hardwood and softwood, commonly imported into the United Kingdom. It is not a complete work insofar as it does not list the many timbers imported and exported within the Asian and Pacific area which seldom, if ever, find their way to the United Kingdom. The pattern of the BSI publication might well be followed in the compilation of a similar work covering the area with which this Conference is primarily concerned.
A beginning has already been made in several countries and I think I am right in saying that authoritative articles on the subject of standard nomenclature have appeared in the Indian Forester, Tectona, and The Malayan Forester, in addition to purely official publications issued by the governments of a number of countries which certainly include India, Australia, Burma, Indonesia, Malaya, and North Borneo. It ought not to be a very difficult matter for a co-ordinating committee to collect, collate, bring up to date, edit and publish the considerable mass of information already available.
Another important need is some official standardization of timber trade terms, a subject intimately connected with that of grading rules, and perhaps best tackled from that angle. Point is given to the need for standardization by the use, at this Conference, of two terms both describing the sawn outturn of a log - the American "lumber" and the British "timber." The American term is perhaps the more rational and probably stands more chance of universal acceptance, but whether the very conservative United Kingdom timber trade will ever do so is distinctly open to doubt.
GRADING RULES
Now we come to the question of grading and the necessity for a set of simple rules which will assist both exporters and importers in their transactions - for it should be recognized that dealings in timber, as in any other commodity, must primarily be a matter of arrangement between buyer and seller. It must be remembered that logs however carefully sawn yield little, if any, timber entirely free from defects. It is therefore essential to admit defects but to limit them by rules applicable to the various grades and types of stock. Such rules should provide standards of measurement and quality which will be readily understood by all concerned and, at the same time, ensure provision of timber suited to the general or specific use required by the buyer. Grading rules to be effective should be applied by an impartial authority; that is to say that the timber should be graded by competent graders unconnected with either buyer or seller. In the United States of America and Canada the National Hardwood Lumber Association is generally recognized as the impartial grading authority and the Association's Grading Certificate is issued to cover all timber graded by their inspectors.
In Malaya timber for exacting or "high-class" markets such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and South Africa is graded under the "Empire Grading Rules" by government timber inspectors, and a fee, at present fixed at five cents per cubic foot, is charged for the service. An official Grading Certificate is issued which has come to be regarded as the buyer's guarantee that the timber is up to the standard ordered and paid for. Asian markets are usually much less exacting and in most cases are content with "run of the mill" material or little better. Such timber is really not graded at all or is "mill graded" to no fixed rules, which means, in practice, that the worst pieces are eliminated. A grading authority should, however, be prepared to grade to any rules definitely agreed between buyer and seller, provided the rules are sufficiently clear to prevent any misinterpretation. In practice this is extremely difficult and buyers usually prefer to have their timber graded to recognized standards such as NHLA rules or the Empire Grading Rules, but admitting certain tolerances in excess of those laid down, as for instance in respect of size, sapwood, or worm holes.
Mention has been made of the fact that in Malaya we are still using the Empire Grading Rules. These rules were first drawn up in 1932 by a specially constituted subcommittee of the Imperial Institute Advisory Committee on Timbers, on which served representatives of many countries including India, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, and Malaya. I do not think that the rules were, in fact, ever widely used, and so far as Malaya is concerned it has been evident for some time past that they have not been entirely satisfactory in practice. Their application to many of the "new" Malayan timbers now being exported has revealed an undesirable rigidity, while the whole format of the rules proved unsuitable in the case of purchases by the United Kingdom Timber Control Department of the Board of Trade.
In view of these considerations a new set of rules to be known as the Malayan Export Grading Rules has been evolved and is now in draft form. These proposed rules follow more closely the set-up of some American rules while retaining some of the best features of the Empire Grading Rules.
They have, in fact, a broad basis and will, it is hoped, prove applicable to timber destined for some Asian and Far Eastern markets. Some modifications, including perhaps provision of a grade below "Standard" will certainly be required; but I suggest to this Conference that here is a set of rules, already in draft that might well form the basis of a uniform grading system throughout Asian territories. Copies are available if interested persons will write to the Director of Forestry Federation of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur.
