These statistics refer to the period from January 1997, immediately after the most recent export ban of December 1996, up to and including September or October 1997, the month for which the most recently published figures are available. Broadly speaking this relates to the first three quarters of 1997. These figures, are therefore an indication of the minimum value of the international trade in Cambodian timber. China's imports account for almost half of this total, of which the majority is imports of veneer less than 6 mm thick, commodity group 4408. The total value of Vietnamese imports into these countries is significantly less than Thai and Cambodian imports.
Japan is again the major importer.
Vietnam, like Cambodia, has an export ban on wood in the rough. Cambodia allows the export processed products, such as veneer wood and sheets, as defined by the RGC 29th April 1997 statement. However for such exports to be legal the raw materials must be sourced from legal concessionaires with a legal permit to cut. It is highly likely that a large proportion of the timber imports into Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, from Thailand and Vietnam, will have originated as illegal exports from Cambodia. By illegally exporting its rough wood for processing in other countries the RGC both deprives its Treasury of revenue from value added production, and from non-payment of taxes and royalties.