Dec 22, 2005. /Lesprom Network/. The Australian government has warned Papua New Guinea and Indonesia that their failure to crack down on illegal logging could attract timber export restrictions. While the Somare government has maintained that all timber exported from PNG was from legal operations, Australian Federal forestry minister Ian Macdonald was quoted by The Australia newspaper as saying illegal logging was still rampant in Indonesia, PNG and the Solomon Islands. He said information from the World Bank and other independent sources indicated this despite assurances by PNG. Senator Macdonald said Australia was trying to persuade its neighbours to agree to international sustainable logging practices, pointing out that the illegal trade was a threat to some of the world's most rare rainforests. While acknowledging the difficulties developing countries face in trying to enforce forestry standards, Australia will legislate if necessary to ban the import of illegally felled timber. The move could put at risk a market worth millions of dollars, which saw Australia import 51 800 cubic meters of sawn timber from Indonesia and 19 500 cubic meters from PNG in the last financial year. Industry experts estimate this quantity of timber would have resulted in the destruction of between 8000 hectares and 12 000 hectares of tropical rainforest. "We have to stop the slaughter of rainforests in some of these countries . . . this illegal trade is a threat to some of the world's most unique and rare forests", senator Macdonald said. Local villagers get little or no value or employment from the illegal harvest. The failure to manage the resource properly means that the forests, once harvested, are gone forever. Senator Macdonald said Indonesia had shown genuine interest in reforming its industry and he would discuss the matter during meetings with his Indonesian colleague Malem Sambat Kaban. Queensland Timber Board chief executive Rod McInnes backed their government's stand, saying the Australian industry supported legislation to ban illegal log imports. Local and international environment groups such as Greenpeace which recently blockaded a Brisbane timber yard belonging to Australian timber importer TLB Pty Ltd welcomed senator Macdonald's warning. Greenpeace alleges TLB Pty Ltd imports illegally logged sawn timber from PNG-based Rimbunan Hijau, a claim that the Malaysian logging giant and the PNG government have denied.