MGA TMA - Russian timber imports

Advocacy: Russian Timber Imports

Whilst it has been horrible to hear the news and see the images coming out of Ukraine with Russia’s invasion, there was concerns from one of our large timber members, of the impact that potential sanctions against Russian timber imports may mean for their business and their customers.

We contacted a number of federal and state government ministers with our concerns and the vast majority replied back saying that they were monitoring the situation. Our first involvement was to ensure that timber imports from Russia were not banned. This was successful. The next announcement made was that a 35% tariff would be imposed on Russian timber imports. The Government’s decision was due to come into effect quite quickly. As our member already had stock on the water and orders in the system, this would have affected them significantly.

With our connections to the then Treasurers office, we had discussions with key staffers and said that we were not opposed to the tariff but requested that it exclude orders already placed and in transit. We were advised shortly after, that the tariff would come into effect at a later date and existing confirmed orders would not be impacted. A great result for our member and the customers they serve as costs were able to be kept to a minimum.

MGA TMA Management Committee L-R Front Row : David Caroselli, Clive Dossetor, Mike Drew. Second Row: Peter Bennett, Marie-Claire McKiernan (MGA TMA Membership Manager). Top Row: Richard Hill, Peter Alexander (President)

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