Timber certification is a process which results in a written statement (a certificate) attesting the origin of wood raw material, and its status following validation by an independent third party. It involves forest management and chain of custody certification and is an important market-linked tool to encourage sustainable forest management which takes into consideration the economic, environmental and social dimensions of the forests.
The goal is to link trade in forest/timber products to the sustainable management of the forest resource, by providing buyers with the confidence that the timber products manufactured/exported are indeed sourced from sustainably managed forests.
Both the standards for forest management, the current ITTO-based MC&I(2001) and the new FSC-based MC&I(2002), have been developed through multi-stakeholder consultations.
As mentioned earlier, the MC&I(2001) incorporates the corresponding SOPs for Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia that were identified during the regional and national level consultations held amongst multi-stakeholders in 1999. These consultations were actively participated by all stakeholders, including 20 representatives of various environmental and social NGOs. There was no withdrawal of any party from the process, even though some of the social NGOs did flag their concerns at the national level consultation on several processes related to forest management which they hoped could be solved through forest certification. The participants at the consultation deliberated at length on the issues raised by these NGOs pertaining to native customary rights (NCRs) and participation of local communities in relation to forest management in Sarawak, although these organisations fully supported the concept and implementation of forest certification. Detailed explanations were made regarding these concerns. The meeting noted that the issues raised involve the implementation of certain State laws and therefore were beyond the area of responsibility of MTCC.
The development of the MC&I(2002) involved broad-based consultations and consensus between social, environmental and economic stakeholder groups and direct resource managers through several meetings of the NSC and regional consultations held in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak where appropriate regional verifiers were identified. These consultations culminated in the national-level consultation held in October 2002 where representatives of all the stakeholder groups from the three regions met to finalise and adopt the MC&I(2002).
A small number of social NGOs however have withdrawn from the NSC process in the development of the MC&I(2002), i.e. five members representing three organisations. The NSC has 28 members representing the social, environmental and economic interest groups, and the direct resource managers. Of the present 23 members (82% of the NSC members), three are representatives of three social organisations.
It should also be noted that many more social NGOs attended the regional and national level consultations. In Sabah, 71 participants representing all the stakeholder groups attended the regional consultation, out of which 17 were representatives from the following 11 social and environmental organisations:
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| The MTCS started operation in October 2001 and comprises two components: i) Forest Management Certification This is a process of third party audit of the forest management practices in a Forest Management Unit (FMU) or Forest Plantation Management Unit (FPMU) to assess compliance with the requirements of a prescribed standard, leading to an award of a Certificate for Forest Management under the MTCS. · a) Standard for Certification of Natural Forest The standard currently used for certification of natural forest is the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification (Natural Forest) or in short MC&I(Natural Forest). · b) Standard for certification of Forest Plantations The standard used for certification of forest plantations is the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification (Forest Plantations) or in short MC&I(Forest Plantations) ii) Chain of Custody (CoC) Certification This is a process of third-party audit of timber product manufacturers or exporters to ascertain that the timber products manufactured or exported are sourced from forests which have been awarded the Certificate for Forest Management, and leads to an award of a Certificate for Chain-of-Custody under the MTCS. · a) Standard for CoC Certification The standard used for CoC is the PEFC ST 2002:2013, Chain of Custody of Forest Based Products – Requirements of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). Inimplementing the MTCS, MTCC is the National Governing Body (NGB) which is overall in charge of the scheme. The accredited Certification Bodies (CBs) receive and process the applications for certification, conduct audits and make decisions to award the Certificate for Forest Management and Certificate for Chain of Custody. The CBs are required to obtain accreditation from the national Accreditation Body (AB) which is the Department of Standards Malaysia (STANDARDS MALAYSIA). |
| How do I apply for certification? |
| For forest management certification, the manager of a FMU or FPMU will be required to apply to an accredited CB for the conduct of an audit of the FMU/FPMU to ascertain its compliance with the requirements of the prescribed certification standard. The written audit report (for Stage 2 or recertification audit) will be subjected to comments by the applicant and a peer review process. If no major non-compliances are issued by the CB, the FMU/FPMU will be eligible for the award of the certificate for compliance with the prescribed certification standard. Annual surveillance audit will be conducted to ensure the FMU/FPMU’s continued compliance with the requirements of the certification standard over the 3-year validity of the certificate. The same process is also required for chain of custody certification where a timber product manufacturer or exporter in Malaysia will be required to apply to an accredited CB for the conduct of an audit of the company to ascertain its compliance with the requirements of the chain of custody (CoC) certification standard. The written audit report will be subjected to comments by the applicant. If no major non-compliances are issued by the CB in the written audit report, the company will be eligible for the award of the certificate for compliance with the CoC certification standard.Similarly, the timber company will be subjected to annual surveillance audit to ensure its continued compliance with the requirements of the certification standard over the 3-year validity period of the certificate. The list of accredited CBs is available on the MTCC website. |
| For forest management certification, the manager of a FMU or FPMU will be required to apply to an accredited CB for the conduct of an audit of the FMU/FPMU to ascertain its compliance with the requirements of the prescribed certification standard. The written audit report (for Stage 2 or recertification audit) will be subjected to comments by the applicant and a peer review process. If no major non-compliances are issued by the CB, the FMU/FPMU will be eligible for the award of the certificate for compliance with the prescribed certification standard. Annual surveillance audit will be conducted to ensure the FMU/FPMU’s continued compliance with the requirements of the certification standard over the 3-year validity of the certificate. The same process is also required for chain of custody certification where a timber product manufacturer or exporter in Malaysia will be required to apply to an accredited CB for the conduct of an audit of the company to ascertain its compliance with the requirements of the chain of custody (CoC) certification standard. The written audit report will be subjected to comments by the applicant. If no major non-compliances are issued by the CB in the written audit report, the company will be eligible for the award of the certificate for compliance with the CoC certification standard.Similarly, the timber company will be subjected to annual surveillance audit to ensure its continued compliance with the requirements of the certification standard over the 3-year validity period of the certificate. The list of accredited CBs is available on the MTCC website. |
Application will have to be made to MTCC which is the NGB of the PEFC Council in Malaysia.
The following user groups can apply to MTCC for the issuance of PEFC Logo usage license:
Group B: Forest owners and managerswith PEFC recognised forest management (FM) certificates and all eligible entities participating in a region or group with PEFC recognised certificate.
Group C: Forest related industries (e.g. wood procurement organisations, wood manufacturers and wood processing industries, wood traders, distributors, retailers, etc.) with PEFC recognised chain of custody (COC) certificate, including sites covered by PEFC recognised COC certificates.
Group D: Other Users – Organisations and other entities other than those classified under PEFC Logo user groups B and C which are using the PEFC Logo off-product for promotional and education purposes.
A company, organisation or individual has to obtain the PEFC Logo Usage License from MTCC before printing, publishing or otherwise using the PEFC Logo and its related claims regardless of the logo usage group or logo usage alternative (off- or on-product usage). Qualified applicants are required to submit a completed application form to MTCC, as presented in Appendix B of LG 3/2011. MTCC reviews the application form to determine whether the applicant has delivered all the required documents for scrutiny and that all the predetermined PEFC Council requirements on the logo usage and reproduction are fulfilled.
If logo usage is approved, MTCC prepares a Logo Usage License Agreement (Appendix C of LG 3/2011) for the applicant. The License Agreement enters into force when:
- Both parties sign the agreement; and
- When the applicant has paid the applicable fees.