Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Yes. The Act has been amended by the Amendment Act to provide further measures to protect the Australian market from illegally logged timber and support sustainable and legal timber trade.

The Amendment Act received the Royal Assent on 17 September 2024 and amends the Act with effect from 3 March 2025.

The amended Act can be found on the Federal Register of Legislation.

From 3 March 2025, the Rules will replace the existing Regulation and introduce changes to due diligence requirements for importing regulated timber products and processing raw logs (among other things).

From 3 March 2025 you will need to comply with the Rules (including the due diligence requirements set out in the Rules) in relation to regulated timber products to be imported and raw logs to be processed on or after that date. The replacement of the Regulation does not affect its previous operation, including requirements relating to due diligence and record keeping.

We have developed new guidance material and webpage content to help importers and processors understand and meet their due diligence requirements.

We appreciate that the new legal requirements will involve changes to your internal processes and we remain committed to supporting compliance within the regulated community with clear and accessible guidance.

For the first six months of the Rules being in effect (from 3 March 2025 – early September 2025), the department proposes to conduct audits and issue Request for Information notices to assess compliance with the laws. However, the focus will be on education and guidance for non-compliance matters relating to the application of new or changed due diligence arrangements.

For the first six months of the Rules being in effect (from 3 March 2025 – early September 2025), the department proposes to conduct audits in relation to whether an importer or processor has complied with the due diligence requirements for importing regulated timber products or processing raw logs, as the case may be. The Secretary of the Department may also issue notices to importers and processors about their due diligence systems and their compliance with the due diligence requirements for importing regulated timber products or processing raw logs.

No.

The Act included a requirement for an importer to provide a declaration to the Customs Minister about their compliance with the due diligence requirements for importing a regulated timber product. This took the form of an illegal logging Community Protection Question (CPQ)on the Integrated Cargo System (ICS).

The Amendment Act does include a requirement for importers to provide a declaration to the Customs Minister about their compliance with the due diligence requirements for importing regulated timber products. However, such a declaration must be given in the manner and form prescribed by the Rules. As no manner and form for making the declaration has yet been prescribed by the Rules, an importer will not be required to provide such a declaration.

While there is no longer any legal requirement to answer the question, it will remain on the Integrated Cargo System for a period of time while we work with the Department of Home Affairs to remove it. After March 3, please answer ‘no’ to the CPQ in order to progress with your import. This will not have any legal effect.

Not at this stage.

From 3 March 2025, the Amendment Act introduced requirements for an importer to provide notice to the Secretary of the department of regulated timber products to be brought into Australia and unloaded at a landing place or port in Australia, and for a processor to give the Secretary notice of the processing of a raw log on or after a day prescribed in the rules This requirement has not been switched on yet through a day being prescribed because it is intended that the notices be given by way of a new IT system, which is still being developed.

Therefore, importers and processors will not be required to provide these notices until the IT system is operational.

Importers and processors will be consulted on the development of the IT system and will be informed of when they will be required to start giving the notices.

Guidance material to assist you in meeting the notice requirements will be available once the relevant rules have been made.

From 3 March 2025 the department can use timber testing technologies to verify claims of species and origin of timber and timber products at the border and under a warrant.

We will provide more information on the proposed use of timber testing technologies as it becomes available.

Section 84A of the Act provides that the Secretary may publish certain information about criminal convictions, civil penalty orders and enforceable undertaking orders on the department’s website.

The Secretary may publish the name of the person who has been convicted of the relevant offence, the name of the person who has been the subject of a civil penalty order and the name of the person who has been the subject of the enforceable undertaking order. The Secretary may also publish certain other details of the contravention or order.

For example, if a person has been convicted of an offence against subsection 12(1) or (2) (importing regulated timber products without complying with due diligence requirements for importing those regulated timber products) the Secretary may publish a description of the regulated timber product and details of the due diligence requirements that were not complied with.

It is intended that publication of convictions for offences against the Act, contraventions of civil penalty provisions and instances of non-compliance with due diligence requirements would only occur where non-compliance is repeated or very serious and where it is considered in the public interest to do so.

Such instances may be where a person has been convicted of the offence of importing illegally logged timber (s 8 of the Act) on several occasions, or has repeatedly failed to comply with the due diligence requirements for importing regulated timber products, without undertaking further checks or adjusting practices.

No.

With the exception of Country Specific Guidelines and State Specific Guidelines, all material published by the department prior to 3 March 2025 relating to the Illegal Logging Prohibition Regulation 2012 is no longer relevant and should not be relied on by businesses for their due diligence (processes or obligations). This includes all previous Illegal Logging Compliance Advice Notices, published as CANs, which will no longer apply to due diligence processes.

Generally, due diligence involves gathering information on the regulated timber product or raw log, assessing the risk that the product or raw log contains illegally logged timber, and mitigating that risk (if necessary).

See the due diligence for importers or due diligence for processors webpages for further information.

Yes, you must conduct due diligence in relation to each regulated timber product you wish to import or each raw log you wish to process.

Depending on the circumstances, the previous risk assessment pathway may be used for importers, as set out in section 8(10) of the Rules, and for processors, as set out in section 11(9) of the Rules.

See the due diligence for importers or due diligence for processors webpages for further information.

No. You still need to undertake all of the relevant due diligence steps listed on due diligence for processors or due diligence for importers webpage.

Yes.

However, if the regulated timber product you intend to import or the raw log you intend to process is a certified regulated timber product or a certified raw log, you may conduct your risk identification and assessment process using the risk identification and assessment process for certified regulated timber products in subsection 8(5) of the Rules or the risk identification and assessment process for certified raw logs in subsection 11(4) of the Rules.

Certified timber products and certified raw logs are defined in subsections 8(4) and 11(3) of the Rules, respectively.

Yes. Even if you are certified, you will need to meet the due diligence requirements of the illegal logging legislation.

Due diligence is conducted based on the product/raw log, not the supplier or the importer/processor. Therefore, you must check that the product you are importing or log you are processing is certified.

The department acknowledges the robust due diligence processes of both FSC and PEFC; however, a Chain of Custody manual in and of itself is not sufficient to meet the due diligence obligations.

For compliance, a written system will be required that sets out the process by which the person will meet the due diligence requirements that are prescribed at Section 13A of the Act and sections 7 and 8 of the Rules for importers and Section 17A the Act and sections 10 and 11 of the Rules for processors.

The certified products pathway for risk assessment is found at sections 8(5) and 11(4) of the Rules for importers and processors respectively.

No. You do not have to submit your due diligence information to the department each time you import a regulated timber product or process domestically grown raw logs.

You must undertake your due diligence before you import regulated timber products or process raw logs and you must keep a written record of all your due diligence processes. When requested for compliance purposes, you must provide this information to the department.

Yes, unless your product is an exempt regulated timber product under s 6 of the Rules.

A regulated timber product is exempt where it is:

• imported as part of a consignment, if the total customs value of the regulated timber product/s in the consignment does not exceed $1,000; or
• recycled material, entirely made from recycled material, or where all the timber and products derived from timber, included in the product are recycled material.

See Regulated timber products for more information.

If you are importing personal belongings (such as furniture from your overseas home) under the tariff code for personal effects, you do not need to do due diligence.

Learn more about importing personal belongings.

If the regulated timber product you intend to purchase has already been imported into Australia, or the raw log has already been processed, you will not be required to conduct due diligence. You are only required to do due diligence if you are the importer of a regulated timber product (that is not an exempt regulated timber product) or if you are processing a raw log from a tree grown in Australia.

Yes. Illegal logging can occur in any country. If the product is a regulated timber product, you need to do due diligence prior to importing the product (unless the product is prescribed as exempt).

While there are only isolated instances of illegal logging in Australia, Australia is not immune. You must still do due diligence prior to processing a raw log harvested from a tree grown in Australia.

The phrase ‘reasonably practicable’ is an objective test. What is reasonably practicable will depend on the circumstances.

Determining whether an importer or processer has met their obligation to obtain as much of the prescribed information as is reasonably practicable may involve considering factors such as:

• availability of the prescribed information at the relevant time;
• what information the importer or processor obtained;
• what steps were taken to obtain the prescribed information;
• further steps that could have been taken to obtain prescribed information;
• the importance of the information;
• whether the information relates to information already known by the importer or processor;
• the scale and sophistication of the importer’s or processor’s business; and
• complexity of the supply chain;
• time, expense and difficulty involved in obtaining the prescribed information.

Under the relevant legislation, an importer or processor is required to obtain all the information listed in subsections 8(3) or 11(2) of the Rules, as is reasonably practicable, and keep records of the information for a period of 5 years from the day the regulated timber product is imported or the raw log is processed. It may also be prudent to keep records of attempts to obtain the information, to demonstrate your attempt to comply with the information gathering requirements.

If the information cannot be gathered then this must be taken into consideration in the subsequent risk identification assessment stage of the due diligence process, and at the risk mitigation stage if the risk that the product is, is made from, or includes, illegally logged timber is not low. In practice the absence of information is likely to preclude a rating of low risk.

The Rules require that the identification and assessment of the risk must be to a reasonable standard.

Generally, what is ‘reasonable’ is considered by assessing what a reasonable person would have done in the importer’s or the processor’s circumstances. This is an objective test, which depends on the particular factual circumstances of the importer/ processor.

Digital and other scientific technical timber testing methods for timber identification are playing an increasingly important role in facilitating compliance with due diligence requirements under illegal timber trade laws in other countries.

The department recognises the value that timber testing may have in verifying species and the origin of timber and timber products. You may use these methods as part of your due diligence. However, it is your responsibility to ensure that any such technical solution is sufficiently robust to accurately assess illegal logging risk and that you comply with all the due diligence requirements in the legislation.

It is important to note that scientific timber testing is not a mandatory due diligence requirement. It is not to be utilised in lieu of prescribed due diligence requirements. Where utilised within, for example, risk mitigation processes, timber testing must be undertaken before the importation of the regulated timber product or the processing of the raw log, and be demonstrably associated to the product to be imported or the raw log to be processed.

Yes.

Controlled wood, FSC-Mix and FSC Recycled material are covered as eligible output claims in the Chain of Custody standard FSC-STD-40-004.

When conducting the risk identification and assessment as part of your due diligence, you need to comply with all the requirements for identifying and assessing the risk in relation to certified or non-certified timber products or certified or non-certified raw logs.

When keeping records of your risk assessment, you must demonstrate that you considered each risk factor in your written identification and assessment of risk.

As part of the due diligence process, the Rules require importers and processors to identify and assess the risk that the product is, is made from, or includes, illegally logged timber, or identify and assess the risk that the raw log has been illegally logged (as the case may be).

To assist importers and processors understand how to identify and assess the relevant risk, the department has created a due diligence toolkit.

The toolkit provides guidance on the other due diligence requirements and the defined terms and concepts relevant to due diligence. The toolkit is also anticipated to be a resource for importers and processors in developing their due diligence systems for importing regulated timber products or processing raw logs, as the case may be.

You cannot solely rely upon the documents listed in the Country Specific Guideline (CSG) or State Specific Guideline (SSG) when conducting the risk identification and assessment process for non-certified regulated timber products or non-certified raw logs. You will have to meet all the requirements set out in the Rules in conducting the relevant risk identification and assessment.

Under the Rules, there is no longer a stand-alone CSG or SSG risk assessment method. However, CSGs and SSGs continue to have a role in the non-certified products pathway as one of several factors that you must consider when conducting your risk identification and assessment. As an importer, you are required to consider the CSG information if the CSG applies to the timber in the product, or the place in which the timber was harvested any CSG that relates to the timber that is, or the timber that is in, the regulated timber product. Similarly, as a processor, you are required to consider the SSG that relates to the raw logs.

Importers will also need to consider all the factors listed in subsection 8(6) of the Rules in conducting the risk identification and assessment step of the due diligence process for non-certified timber products.

Processors will need to consider all the other factors listed in subsection 11(5) of the Rules when conducting the risk identification and assessment step of the due diligence process for non-certified raw logs.

See due diligence for importers or due diligence for processors for more information.

As an importer of a non-certified regulated timber product, you are required to consider any CSG that relates to the timber that is, or the timber that is in, the product in identifying and assessing the risk that the product is, is made from, or includes, illegally logged timber.

Alternatively, as the processor of a non-certified raw log, you are required to consider any SSG that relates to the raw logs in identifying and assessing the risk that the raw log has been illegally logged.

As part of the risk identification and assessment process for non-certified regulated timber products, you must consider the governance arrangements for forest management in the area or country in which the regulated timber in the product was harvested.

The governance arrangements for forest management are the rules, policies and legislation which govern forest use, including harvesting in the particular area or country concerned.

Visit the Resources for importers page for further links to third party resources which may assist.

Yes, you may be able to use the repeat due diligence exception in s 8(10) of the Rules However, you must still meet the following requirements:

• the regulated timber product that you wish to import must be the same as the earlier regulated timber product you imported (that is, both products must be either certified or non-certified regulated timber products); and
• you have obtained the following information for the product you wish to import, and that information is the same as the information as for the earlier product:
  • the description of the regulated timber product; and
  • the country or the area of the country in which the timber, or the timber in the product was harvested; and
  • the country in which the product was processed or manufactured (if applicable)
  • the name, address, trading name and business registration number (if any) of the supplier of the product; and
• you have:
  • considered whether, since you complied with the risk identification and assessment steps in relation to the import of the earlier product, there has been a significant change in circumstances that has increased the risk that the product you wish to import is, is made from, or includes, illegally logged timber; and
  • if you are satisfied that there has been no such significant change in circumstances, you have made a written record to this effect.

Section 5 of the Rules prescribes the regulated timber products by reference to the tariff codes, including a description of each regulated timber product.

Australian Border Force also provides information on tariff classification. Alternatively, if you use a customs broker, you may wish to contact them for this information.

If your product does not contain any timber or wood-fibre content (in any shape or form), then you do not need to do due diligence.

You do not need to do due diligence on wood, pulp or paper products that do not come within the definition of regulated timber product in section 5 of the Rules. This could include items such as wooden musical instruments and sporting equipment.

Yes. Unless it is an exempt regulated timber product, you still need to do due diligence on the timber contained in the product.

Yes. If your composite product is prescribed as a regulated timber product under section 5 of the Rules, due diligence must be undertaken prior to import.

It is important to note that MDF and plywood are not common or species names of timber. MDF and plywood are typically comprised of one or multiple timber species.

When identifying and assessing the risk that the regulated timber product contains illegally logged timber, you will need to consider each of the timber species in the regulated timber product in order to identify and assess the risk that the regulated timber product is, is made from, or includes, illegally logged timber.

For more information on how to conduct due diligence, visit our Due diligence for importers webpage.

You can call the department’s Redline on 1800 803 006 for a confidential discussion if you believe your supplier is dealing in illegally logged timber.

Alternatively, you can report suspected dealings in or undertakings of illegal logging activity via our online reporting form. You can remain anonymous when reporting information using the online reporting form, but it can help an investigation if we can contact you to ask for more information.

To discuss compliance matters, you can email the Operational Intelligence and Coordination Branch at noncompliancereports@aff.gov.au. 

As these terms under the Act and Rules all rely on the ordinary meaning of the word, it was not necessary to include definitions in the legislation.

Under the Act and Rules, processors of domestically grown raw logs need to conduct due diligence prior to processing.

The Macquarie Dictionary defines process as ‘to convert (an agricultural commodity) into marketable form by some special process; prepared or modified by an artificial process; to treat or prepare by some particular process, as in manufacturing.’ In the context of the Act, the department considers this means any activity that turns a raw log into something other than a raw log.

A raw log is a felled tree that has been bucked and delimbed. Therefore, while bucking and delimbing activities are not considered processing, any further activities would constitute processing for the purposes of the Act. For example, debarking processes are ‘processing’ for the purposes of the Act.

Under the Australia’s illegal logging laws, the importer will generally be the owner of the goods at the time they are imported.

Where there is some ambiguity, the contractual terms and conditions may provide clarity as to who the importer is at a particular time.