B.C. to open forestry trade office to increase lumber exports to Asia: ministry

Softwood lumber is pictured along the Fraser River in Richmond, B.C., Tuesday, April 25, 2017. (Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

An overseas forestry office will encourage the export of softwood lumber from British Columbia to Asia, the provincial government says.

The Forestry Innovation Investment office will ensure "B.C. is the preferred supplier of sustainable and certified softwood lumber products to Vietnam," according to the ministers for jobs and forests and the minister of state for trade.

Vietnam is the world's second-largest exporter of wooden furniture, the ministers said Wednesday.

The office, located in the province of Binh Duong, is the third B.C. has established, and the first in Vietnam.

Officials say the new office will lead to more trade in the area, diversifying the provincial export market.

The move comes after B.C.'s premier said he supported the federal government's decision to impose a 35 per cent tariff on Russian and Belarusian exports to Canada, a move that may have economic consequences including to the construction industry.

B.C.'s logging industry has also been in recent headlines as groups protest the destruction of old-growth forests for lumber.

One such protest was scheduled to occur Wednesday morning in North Vancouver, but police were called early on and broke up the demonstration before there was much impact to rush-hour traffic, the RCMP told CTV News.

Others have caused lengthy delays during the morning commute, and several arrests have been made in months of these protests, including of those who've used superglue to stick their hands to the road surface.

Hundreds of people have been charged and more than 1,100 arrests made as a result of demonstrations on Vancouver Island, in the Fairy Creek area. Some of these protesters have alleged misconduct by the RCMP in the case.

Earlier this month, B.C.'s forests minister said the province has worked with First Nations to defer logging of more than one million hectares of at-risk old-growth forests.