Timber Inspection and the State: The Tasmanian Experience

C'~'1aveat emptorlet the buyer beware! The ancient ? legal maxim works well enough when buyers can pick over goods to see their quality, but not for timber shipped to distant ports. Timber importers cannot inspect every piece in a shipload. When a single load is made up by several producers, which is the usual case, the consumer cannot relate defective pieces to particular producers even by inspection. Importers must depend on the reputation of an entire area for shipping high-quality timber. But how are producers to guard the reputation of their area against an unscrupulous few who ship bad timber? This age-old problem has led to inspection and grading systems operated sometimes by trade associations and sometimes by the state. This article is a case history of timber inspection in Australia's island state of Tasmania. The case is small and simple, but it illustrates both the usefulness and the limitations of state intervention in timber export.