Forest Certification in Developing and Transitioning ... - UTas ePrints

forest certification in malaysia
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The standard used in the MTCC scheme is derived from agreements
between the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) and the
Netherlands Timber Trade Association (NTTA) under the Malaysia-
Netherlands Ad-Hoc Working Group. This standard was not developed
through a duly established, multi-stakeholder consultative process, and
emphasizes economic considerations while failing to adequately safeguard
social and environmental conservation values;
MTCC saw its scheme as being transitional but WWF Malaysia argued that
this was not clearly demonstrated due to the lack of a work plan and timeline
to progress from the current scheme to a standard compatible with the
Forest Stewardship Council’s requirements of process and substance.
Nevertheless, NGOs like WWF are of the opinion that the MTCC label is able, in
principle, to provide a verification of legal compliance and a verification of legal origin.
MTCC needs to strengthen its chain of custody requirements through the product
supply chain to prevent the mixing of MTCC labeled products with products from
unknown sources. In the absence of such strengthening, the concern remains over
non-transparent tracking of illegal movement of Indonesian logs into Malaysia.
Specifically WWF Malaysia is concerned about the products classified under the
Minimum Average Percentage System (WWF Malaysia 2003b). There are no clauses or
requirements to ensure that the non-MTCC source does not come from contentious
sources like the conversion of High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF) and illegal
materials. It is felt the absence of this requirement undermines MTCC’s purpose of
providing a credible market label on the legality of the MTCC labeled product.
MTCC has approached the implementation of its scheme phase by phase. Relevant
concerns tabled by various stakeholders are adopted and MTCC has planned to use a
new standard that has been developed based on the P&C of FSC. The development of
this new MC&I involved broad-based consultation and consensus between social,
environmental and economic stakeholder groups through several meetings of the
multi-stakeholder National Steering Committee (NSC) and regional consultation
held separately in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. These consultations were
held in October 2002 where the representatives of all the stakeholder groups from the
three regions met to finalise and adopt the national standard. An action plan has also
been adopted towards the formation of an FSC National Working Group (NWG) as
a new body to advance the work of the NSC. The NWG will develop a standard that
will be submitted to the FSC for endorsement.
Seeking Mutual Recognition from FSC
The timber industry in the country has a choice either to apply for FSC certification
that is perceived to be highly credible in Europe or apply for an MTCC certification.
The timber industry utilizing logs for conversion into value added products for the
export market require a certificate that is credible and recognized internationally.
Hence, to meet the credibility demands for these markets, the MTCC needs to
yale school of forestry & environmental studies