APPENDIX 11
Memorandum from the Malaysian Timber Certification
Council (MTCC)
1. MTCC is an independent organisation established
to develop and operate a voluntary national timber certification
scheme in Malaysia. The MTCC timber certification scheme was one
of the five schemes evaluated by the Central Point of Expertise
(CPET) under Phase 1 and was considered to be acceptable as assurance
of legally harvested timber but, in its current form, not completely
acceptable as assurance of sustainable timber as defined in the
UK Government's model contract specification.
2. This memorandum aims to provide an update
of the MTCC scheme since the CPET report in November 2004, highlighting
the changes that have taken place.
3. The MTCC timber certification scheme
began operation in October 2001 using a phased approach. Prior
to 2005, the standard used for assessing Forest Management Units
(FMUs) for the purpose of certification is the Malaysian Criteria,
Indicators, Activities and Standards of Performance for Forest
Management Certification (MC&I 2001) which is based on
the 1998 ITTO Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Management
of Natural Tropical Forests.
4. 2005 is the transition year for the change
from the use of MC&I 2001 to a new standard (Malaysian
Criteria and Indicators for Forest Management Certification or
MC&I 2002) that has been developed using the Principles
and Criteria of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as the template.
5. From January to May 2005, MTCC has finalised
the Assessment Procedures for the MC&I 2002, conducted
briefing sessions to FMU managers in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah
and Sarawak, as well as trained the auditors and peer reviewers
on the MC&I 2002. All new applicants for forest management
certification will now be assessed to the requirements of the
MC&I 2002. The assessment of the existing certified
FMUs to the requirements of the MC&I 2002 is scheduled
to be carried out either in late 2005 or early 2006.
6. The standard for chain-of-custody certification
is the Requirements and Assessment Procedures for Chain-of-Custody
Certification (RAP/COC). Since February 2005, all new applicants
have been assessed to the requirements of the revised version
of this standard, ie the Requirements for Chain-of-Custody
Certification (RCOC). The existing certified companies will
also be assessed under the RCOC with effect from January 2006.
7. Under the MTCC certification scheme,
two types of certificates are issued—the Certificate
for Forest Management to FMUs and the Certificate for Chain-of-Custody
to timber product manufacturers or exporters.
8. Currently nine FMUs with a total area
of 4.73 million hectares have been awarded the Certificate
for Forest Management while 66 companies have been awarded
the Certificate for Chain-of-Custody.
9. The first shipment of MTCC-certified
timber was exported in July 2002, and by the end of July 2005,
a total of 35,419 m3 of MTCC-certified timber products have been
exported to The Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium,
France, Greece and Australia.
September 2005
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