Labelling a slab of swamp kauri a tabletop doesn't make it one, Supreme Court rules

Fri, 09 Nov 2018

By Pattrick Smellie Nov. 9 (BusinessDesk) - New Zealand's highest court has ruled that exporting slabs of swamp kauri as "tabletops" or swamp kauri logs as "totem or temple poles" is illegal under the Forests Act. The decision marks an important victory for the Northland Environmental Protection Society, which has challenged the Ministry of Primary Industries, Customs Department and Ministry of Culture and Heritage through the courts to close down the export trade in unimproved slabs and logs of the rare and lucrative resource. "A slab...

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