| FO:LACFC/2002/13 |
|
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FORESTRY COMMISSION |
Item 9(c) of the Provisional Agenda |
22nd SESSION |
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 7 - 11 October, 2002 |
IN-SESSION TECHNICAL PANEL: FOREST CERTIFICATION |
Executive Committee Note |
1. The certification of forests as being sustainably managed, and the related labelling of products harvested from certified forests (often called "eco-labelling"), are high-profile issues in the forestry sector. This Note provides information on the present state of certification, its developments and most recent subjects, with particular reference to the countries of Latin America. It is intended to be informative and to provide a basis for discussion. The Note does not provide details about specific certification schemes, as they change continuously.
2. Certification continues to attract considerable attention although the actual forest area certified continues to be relatively small. The proliferation of schemes and a lack of general agreement on the certification process are partly due to the fact that the different groups involved have diverse interests, values, circumstances and opinions on the subjects to be tackled, the targets to be met and the benefits that can be obtained.
3. Advocates of certification stress that it is a market-driven concept which will ultimately succeed if there is a higher demand for products from certified forests. Among the main importing countries, attention continues to be concentrated and limited mostly to the Western European countries, principally the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands. Some market niches in the United States of America are also showing increasing interest. Important markets in Asia (such as China and Japan) and in Latin America (such as Brazil) have demonstrated limited interest.
4. The major interest of exporting countries continues to be among those whose principal markets are the European countries, and to a lesser extent the United States of America. This explains the effort that large exporters such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Canada, Finland and Sweden have made in developing their own national certification systems. Domestic consumers in most of these producer countries only show a limited interest for certified products. Therefore, the attention of the main producers is oriented toward their export markets rather than toward their own consumers.
5. Among the various certification schemes, the following are perhaps of the most interest to countries in the region:
American Tree Farm System (ATFS)
6. The American Tree Farm System promotes education for conservation. Certification is handled by the American Forestry Foundation. Each producer is encouraged to have a management plan to implement rapid regeneration practices in the utilized areas in order to maintain water quality, and protect and fortify habitat for wildlife.
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
7. The Forest Stewardship Council accredits certifying organisations, for the purpose of guaranteeing the authenticity of their certifications. Its seeks to promote responsible environmental, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests, through the establishment, at the world level, of a series of forest management principles widely recognized and respected. To facilitate the implementation of these principles and their evaluation criteria, the FSC promotes the development of national certification standards adapting them to the characteristics of the different forests of the world.
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
8. The sustainable forestry initiative of the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) consists of a series of environmental principles and standards. Together, these principles and standards commit participants in the programme toward sustainable sylviculture and provide points of reference with which this commitment may be measured and evaluated. Although it is national in scope within the USA, it promotes adoption by other countries through mutual recognition.
The Pan-European Forest Certification Scheme (PEFC)
9. The Pan-European Forest Certification Scheme is a voluntary initiative of the private sector to promote the management of forests in accordance with PEFC guidelines and criteria. This is in line with the definition established in the resolutions of the Ministerial Conferences of Helsinki (1993) and Lisbon (1998) on Forest Protection in Europe. The purpose of the PEFC is to create a reliable international framework for European schemes and initiatives relating to the certification of forests in order to facilitate mutual recognition.
Brazilian Forest Certification System (CERFLOR)
10. The Brazilian Forest Certification System is a certification system for planted and native forests reflecting an integrated set of principles, criteria and indicators including requirements governing the custody chain and responsibilities for auditing (general principles procedures and qualification of auditors).
Chilean Forest Certification System (CERTFOR)
11. The system is being developed as a joint initiative of the Corporación de Fomento de la Producción (CORFO), the Instituto Forestal (INFOR), the Corporación Chilena de la Madera (CORMA) and the Fundación Chile. The standard will certify forests that apply quality forest management in accordance with national requirements and international markets that demand products flowing from duly certified sustainable systems. These standards define a conceptual framework aiming at sustainable management.
12. The area of certified forests continues to expand. Depending on how the term "certified area" is defined, the total global area of certified forests is about 119 million hectares. Most of the certified area is located in a small number of temperate countries, mainly in North America and Europe. There are few certified forest areas in tropical countries. Although the total certified area is increasing, it represents less than 3% of the world forest area.
13. The following table shows the certified areas under major certification systems.
Globally certified area- by certification scheme (in millions of ha)
Pan-European Certification Framework |
42.9 |
Forest Stewardship Council |
29.3 |
Sustainable Forestry Initiative |
24.3 |
American Tree Farm System |
10.0 |
Canadian Standards Association |
8.8 |
Keurhout (Netherlands) |
4.1 |
Total |
119.4 |
Source: FAO- up-dated to June 2002.
14. At present, certified areas in Latin America total approximately 3.6 million ha. These areas are located in a few countries, the largest area being in Brazil (1.2 million ha), followed by Bolivia (0.9 million ha), Mexico (0.5 million ha) and Guatemala (0.3 million ha). Up to now, most of these areas have been certified under FSC standards, while the other systems are in the process of development, e.g., CERFLOR in Brazil and CERTFOR in Chile.
15. Markets for products from certified forests are increasing in some countries, but slowly. The primary force behind the movement is promotion by environmental or trade groups, municipal or regional administrations, and by forest owners who see the certification as a tool to ensure access to certain markets and/or to obtain competitive advantage over other suppliers.
16. Several large "do it yourself" retail businesses in the USA and Europe and also some housing construction companies in the USA, have announced that in the future they will favour certified wood products. Lately, groups of buyers of products from certified forests have expanded, and they have made some agreements with several large Brazilian producers.
17. One of the practical problems with certification is the "custody chain." It is often difficult to prove that a piece of wood that ends up in a retail store in Europe originated from a specific forest management unit in another country that has been certified. Certificates issued by custody chain have extended rapidly in recent years, in step with general progress that companies are making to ensure the source of their wood and products. Similar issues affect the trade of illegally harvested products.
18. In a number of recent conferences on the subject, a view has been expressed that the proliferation of certification schemes is not desirable.
19. FAO continues to be involved in the subject of certification, both at the level of forest as well as in relation with trade. Recent FAO efforts include participation in various meetings and working groups which have dealt with different aspects of certification. For example:
20. The Commission is invited to address one or more of the many pending issues that surround the concept and practice forest certification and provide guidance to FAO and its members.
