Certification of forest products: effects and opportunities

1
Certification of forest products effects and
opportunities

• Kit Prins
• Chief, Timber Branch
• UNECE Tade Development an Timber Division

2
Content of presentation

• What is certification of forest products?
• Background and history
• Present situation
• Main issues

3
What are certified forest products?

• CFPs bear labels demonstrating in a verifiable
  manner by independent bodies that come from
  forests that meet standards for sustainable
  forest management

4
Early 1990s

• Concern about tropical deforestation
• Preparations for Rio 1992 (proposals for a Forest
  Convention)
• Issues of national sovereignty, accusations of
  neo-colonialism
• Foundation of Forest Stewardship Council, 1993

5
Questions

• What is sustainable forest management (SFM),
  anyway?
• Does it vary between regions?
• Who defines SFM and how?
• Who certifies and controls?
• Who pays?
• What about WTO rules?
• Who wants to buy CFPs (and will they pay more)?

6
Developments during the 1990s

• Development of FSC principles and infrastructure
• Intergovernmental dialogue (certification is
  voluntary, market based, instrument) causes of
  deforestation, plan of action
• Regional processes for criteria and indicators
  of sustainable forest management
• Competitors to FSC
• Better understanding of commercial potential of
  certification

7
Situation, mid-2002

• 124 million ha certified forest (90 in northern
  hemisphere) (3.2 of worlds forests)
• Competing certification systems
• Increasing consensus on what is sustainable
  forest management (incl. variations between
  regions)
• Lukewarm consumers, keen retailers

8
Situation, mid 2002 (cont.)

• Bottleneck chain of custody certificates
• Attempts to gain mutual recognition
• Motives company image, competitive advantage
• Lead in north-west Europe, North America
• Usually no price premium, limited direct consumer
  demand
• Wide range of goods available, mostly FSC

9
The main players

• Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) global, NGOs
  retailers, dominant in market place
• Pan-European Forest Certification System (PEFC)
  forest owners, European forest industry, largest
  forest area, group certification
• Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI), Canadian
  standards Association (CSA)
• Indonesian, Malaysian national systems
• Certifiers (SGS, SCS, )

10
Area of certified forest
11
(No Transcript)
12
Issues

• Is competition between systems confusing
  consumers?
• How can developing countries benefit from
  certification?
• Is certification of sustainable forest management
  too ambitious? Is certification of origin an
  adequate substitute?
• Need to resolve chain-of custody shortage
• Role of governments and public procurement?

13
Further information

• Forest Certification Update for the UNECE Region,
  summer 2002 (ECE/TIM/DP/25)
• ECE/FAO market information service website
  http//www.unece.org/trade/timber/mis/cfp.htm
  (with links)
• ECE/FAO Forest Products Annual Market Review