In 2001, 100 years after the Malaysian forestry department was established, the Malaysian Timber Certification Council came into operation. Today, eight forest management units in Peninsular Malaysia and one in Sarawak – the first to be managed by a private company – are certified under the Malaysian scheme.
And now, the criteria and indicators, originally based on the ITTO‘s demands, have been updated to create a new standard using the Forest Stewardship Council‘s principles and criteria. The chain of custody requirements have also been reviewed.
One of the main motivating factors for this change, said MTCC chief executive officer Chew Lye Teng, was support for the FSC in Malaysia’s high value markets of the UK, the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.
“We want to supply these markets so we have to meet the needs of the buyer,” said Mr Chew. “Already the feedback from these markets is good; they are encouraging us to make this transition.”
The MTCC is also a member of the PEFC and is working towards submitting its scheme for inclusion in the PEFC framework of mutual recognition. It is also in an ASEAN project to develop a pan-Asian scheme which will take into account the minimum requirements of consuming countries.
It is hoped that the new standard will also lead to recognition by the UK government’s Central Point of Expertise in Timber (CPET) that MTCC-certified timber is both legal and sustainable. CPET’s initial classification of the MTCC scheme as proof of legal, but not sustainable timber – due mainly to the perception that there was insufficient involvement by all stakeholders – was a blow for the organisation.
“We were disappointed at CPET’s assessment,” said Mr Chew. “We feel that we have done a lot to have all stakeholders involved. We’ve even given financial support to NGOs to take part in the process.”
Malaysian Timber Council director Mr SK Tham points out that stakeholders must be willing to take part and, even if they did not attend meetings, they were kept informed of developments.
Discussions with CPET
On a visit to London last month Mr Chew and MTCC chairman Dato’ Dr Freezailah B Che Yeom met DEFRA and CPET to discuss progress. “The use of FSC principles and criteria, we believe, will lead to recognition by CPET,” said Mr Chew.
While CPET may have considered the stakeholder consultation lacking, the MTCC scheme recently won praise from the International Federation of Building and Wood Workers. The IFBWW welcomed the MTCC’s new chain of custody standard which demands that all companies in the supply chain observe the same strict social and health and safety rules as the forestry companies. In particular, it commended the scheme for its focus on health and safety regulations and giving locals priority for employment.
These requirements are more stringent than usually demanded for chain of custody certification, said Mr Chew, and the MTCC believes they will lead to better, safer working conditions.
“The rationale was that you have timber produced in forests where the standards include social, environmental and economic considerations so such timber shouldn’t go to a mill with poor working conditions,” he said.
The chain of custody is also being extended to importing countries. “Our system stopped at the point the timber left Malaysia and there were a lot of countries that were interested in using the logo,” said Mr Chew.
UK companies can now be assessed for chain of custody certification and the MTCC is looking to appoint an assessor here.
Protecting its reputation
While Malaysia is reviewing its certification, it is also doing its best to tackle illegal logging and ensure that its reputation is not tainted by illegal products from Indonesia.
Initially Malaysia banned the import of logs from its neighbour; Indonesia responded by exporting sawn logs so Malaysia then banned square logs less than 60in2.
Now Malaysia has to contend with the fact that Indonesian exports pass through its ports – free trade zones – en route to other destinations. In addition, timber is increasingly being transported in containers, which makes inspection more difficult.
Malaysia says it has always tried to work with Indonesia and last month its prime minister and the Indonesian president issued a joint statement renewing their efforts to tackle smuggling, including that of timber.
But stemming this trade is a tall order and Mr Tham pragmatically accepts that illegal trafficking can never be eliminated totally. It’s not made any easier by the fact that Indonesia comprises 17,000 islands and Malaysia shares a long border with the country.
Dr Freezailah traces much of the problem back to the 1997 economic crisis when the World Bank programme included decentralisation of the timber industry and Jakarta’s tight control was handed over to the districts.
“Malaysia is sensitive to the problems in Indonesia but we don’t want illegal timber coming into Malaysia,” he said. “The MTCC assures there is no pollution of supply by illegal timber.”
The Malaysian Timber Council is one of a partnership of timber trade organisations, including the TTF and the Dutch and Belgian associations, recently awarded a €3.5m EU grant to give practical support to timber tracking in Indonesia, Malaysia, Gabon and Cameroon.
