MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Federal Forest Service intend to develop a system to control the transportation and processing of timber in 2005, the ministry's press release said.

First and foremost, they plan to toughen the penalty system. The system of control will include marking cut wood, creating an electronic price database, and coordinating timber traffic.

The ministry said Russia had already joined the international effort to counter timber trafficking.

"A comprehensive system of satellite monitoring of the forest fund has been established, and it will cover the whole final felling territory in Russia," the press release said.

Meticulous monitoring of the forest fund covered 26.5 million hectares in Siberia and the northern part of European Russia in the first half of 2005.