Finnish state forester Metsähallitus says FSC certification does not provide sufficient benefits for it to pilot the certification scheme.
In a certification article on Finnish forests information gateway www.forest.fi, the logger said it was not planning dual certification – state forests are currently certified under the PEFC scheme.
“Certification is an issue related to timber sales,” said Jussi Kumpula, acting director of forestry at Metsähallitus.
“There has been enough demand for our timber and we do not see that FSC would bring enough added benefit in this respect. FSC certification would decrease our possibilities for timber sales and cause extra costs,” he said.
Metsähallitus has monitored international experiences of FSC certification and studied how the FSC criteria and indicators would fit into its activities.
Meanwhile, private forestry company Tornator, the third largest forest owner in Finland with 600,000ha, says it has not yet made a decision on whether to offer FSC certification.
“FSC-certified timber would be more expensive for the customer and we want to know whether they’d be prepared to pay the higher price,” it said.
The Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, which represents forest owners, said it would not be drawn on which certification systems forest owners should use.
UPM has applied for FSC certification on 400,000ha of its 900,000ha of forests. The company believes offering dual PEFC/FSC certification increases its possibilities to meet customer certification needs.
