There are several standards being implemented in a number of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Malaysia. These recent efforts illustrate the growing commitment in many countries around the world to developing standards promoting third party certification of forestry practices.
Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) began in 2002. The development of the standard was supported by the federal government and forest product industry associations. A membership-based company, the Australian Forestry Standard Limited, was established in 2003 to oversee and manage the standard. The standard is developed and managed by a steering committee, while a technical reference committee of 19 decides on the content of the standard. It is voluntary, subject to verification by third-party accredited auditors and is intended to apply to both native and planted forests regardless of tenure or scale of ownership. There is also a chain of custody (COC) standard for verifying the origin of certified raw material. The AFS is mutually recognized by the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes. To date the AFS has issued a single certificate covering 543,400 acres (220,000 hectares).
Brazilian National Forest Certification Program (CERFLOR) Note: This Web page is in Portuguese. CERFLOR began operations in 2003 as a voluntary initiative focusing on plantation forests. Additionally, the program has a COC standard for tracking certified raw materials. The program was developed within the guidelines of the country’s national standardization organization. The National Institute of Metrology, Normalization and Industrial Quality (INMETRO)—Brazil’s national accreditation body—manages the system. The development of the standard and governance of the program includes representatives from producers, consumers, governments, NGOs and organizations such as universities and research institutions. The system is currently developing a standard for natural forests and is seeking mutual recognition of the PEFC.
Chilean Forest Certification System (CERTFOR) began operating in 2003. The system is overseen by CERTFORChile, but Fundacion Chile plays an oversight role, while the Forestry Institute (INFOR) is in charge of the technical aspects of the system. The system has standards for managing plantation forests and COC tracking of certified material as well as group and individual certification options depending on forestland size. CERTFOR is in the process of developing a natural forest management standard. The system is also mutually recognized by the PEFC. As of June 2004, there were 2.3 million acres (950,000 hectares) certified. The system has a goal of 8 million certified hectares by 2005.
Indonesian Ecolabeling Institute (LEI) was established as a working group for developing a sustainable forest management certification system, which was implemented in 1998. LEI’s SFM Certification System was developed with reference to the sustainable forest management principles and criteria of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), as well as the environmental management system developed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) was established in 1999 to develop a voluntary national timber certification system. It has a Board of Trustees comprising representatives from academic, research and development institutions; the timber industry; non-governmental organizations; and government agencies. The system began operating in 2001 based on the principles of the FSC. The MTCC released a set of criteria and indicators in 2002 and field tested these indicators until June 2004. Additionally, the MTCC has a COC standard and is seeking the mutual recognition of the PEFC. As of October 2003, there were seven forest management certificates covering 10.1 million acres (4.11 million hectares) and 37 COC certificates.
