The Secretariat introduced an information paper on this agenda item. At the request of the expert group, Ms Tina Vanhanen of the FAO Forestry Department provided additional information on recent developments in the certification and labelling of forests and forest products.
The meeting noted the risks entailed in the emergence of a large variety of forestry certification and ecolabelling schemes which may apply different certification standards and criteria. It also noted the efforts made by FAO to provide a forum for the owners of forestry certification schemes to discuss areas such as mutual recognition and equivalence of certification standards.
The meeting took note of the trends in fisheries certification and ecolabelling and was informed about recent developments in the activities and governance structure of the Marine Stewardship Council.
