OPENING ADDRESS BY YB DATUK AMAR DOUGLAS UGGAH EMBAS MINISTER OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES 18TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

PROGRAMME FOR THE ENDORSEMENT OF FOREST CERTIFICATION (PEFC) HOTEL ISTANA, KUALA LUMPUR WEDNESDAY, 13 NOVEMBER 2013 Mr. William Street Chairman PEFC Council YBhg. Datin Paduka Nurmala Abd. Rahim Secretary General Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities YBhg. Dato Dr. Freezailah Che Yeom Chairman Malaysian Timber Certification Council Mr. Ben Gunnerberg Secretary General PEFC Council PEFC Board of Directors National Members and International Stakeholders of PEFC Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, A very good morning to all of you. I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) for the invitation to

officiate the 18th General Assembly of PEFC. It is indeed an historic moment for Malaysia to host the PEFC General Assembly. 2. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome delegates

from 35 countries who are here in pursuit of sustainable forest management and the promotion of forest certification. In this context, I wish Selamat Datang to all of you and hope you have a memorable stay in Malaysia. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, 3. I was informed that PEFC is an international non-profit, non-

governmental organization dedicated to promoting sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. Currently, there are more than 240 million hectares of forests that are PEFCcertified, thus making the PEFC scheme irreputably the worlds largest forest certification system. Being an umbrella organization that endorses national forest certification systems that have been developed collaboratively by interested stakeholders, tailored to local priorities and conditions, I am encouraged to note that a total of 33 national certification systems, including the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS), have been endorsed by the PEFC. 4. The pursuit of sustainable forest management is a shared

vision by all the stakeholders of PEFC. However, you would agree with me its pursuit is easier said than done. And I say this with particular reference to the management of tropical forests in developing tropical countries, which has been most demanding and

fraught with tremendous challenges attributed to a great extent by the lack of financial resources, institutional capacity, and skilled and trained human resources. These set backs have inadvertently contributed to the current state of affairs relating to the tropical forests. 5. Based on the Report on the State of Tropical Forest

Management by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) 2011, forest covers some 1.42 billion hectares in ITTOs 33 producer countries. However, the permanent forest estate (PFE) amounts to 761 million hectares of which 403 million hectares are for timber production. From the area designated for production, close to 53.3 million hectares, or about 7 percent is under management consistent with sustainability, and only 17 million hectares have been certified. These statistics for tropical forests are not encouraging indeed. 6. The difficulty involved in encouraging and promoting sustainable

forest management practices worldwide can be further seen via developments that have taken place after the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. It was at this Summit that forest or timber certification was mooted as a market-driven initiative to encourage and promote sustainable forest management, which has subsequently resulted in the development and implementation of voluntary international and national timber certification schemes since the mid1990s, such as the establishment of the PEFC and MTCC in the year 1999. However, 20 years on, only about 10% of the world s commercial forests have been certified , of which less than 5% are tropical.

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, 7. Malaysia has a long history of systematically managing its forest

resources. It has been the commitment by the Malaysian Government to have at least 50 percent of its land area under forests and tree cover in accordance with our pledge made at the Earth Summit in 1992. The Malaysian tropical forest has been recognised as one of the most diverse and productive in the world. Indeed, Malaysia is blessed to still have 56.4% of its land area covered by forest cover, in which nearly 18.6 million hectares are still covered with natural tropical forest. 8. The Malaysian timber industry is one of the major contributors of

the countrys export earnings. In 2012, the timber sector generated over RM20 billion of export earnings and contributed close to 2.9% of the countrys total merchandise exports. The timber industry is also an importance source of employment, where currently 300,000 people are employed in this industry. 9. To further enhance the implementation of sustainable forest in Malaysia and to demonstrate the good forest

management introduced

management practices on the ground, timber certification was with the establishment of Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) as an independent organisation in 1998. MTCC is the national governing body that operates the voluntary MTCS and provides independent assessment for forest management certification and chain of custody certification.

10.

Since the operation of the MTCS in 2001, I am happy to inform

you that more than 4.65 million hectares or about 32% of the total PRFs in Malaysia have been certified for sustainability. In addition, a total of 232 timber companies have been issued with the PEFC Certificate for Chain of Custody confirming that timber products manufactured or traded by these companies are sourced from sustainably managed forests under the MTCS. 11. As you all are aware, the MTCS achieved a significant milestone to be accorded international recognition through its

when it became the first timber certification scheme in the Asia Pacific region endorsement by the PEFC in May 2009. 12. I am also happy to note that as a PEFC-endorsed scheme, the

MTCS has gained increasing international recognition and is now accepted under the national timber procurement policies of Denmark, the United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, France and New Zealand. The scheme is also recognised by green building systems, not only in Malaysia, but also in Australia, Italy, Singapore, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, USA, Japan, Canada and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This signals that the effort taken by the MTCC in implementing the MTCS is indeed a step in the right direction for sustainable forest management. 13. Nevertheless, I understand that this by no means is the end, for

the simple reason that there is no end to continuous improvement. I have been made aware that the MTCS is currently undergoing an assessment for re-endorsement by the PEFC and I would like to wish 5

the MTCC every success in having the MTCS successfully reendorsed by the PEFC. 14. At the regional level in ASEAN, I am happy to note that MTCC is

actively involved in the Working Group on a Pan ASEAN Timber Certification Initiative, formed in 2002 to develop a timber certification framework for ASEAN. In this initiative, Malaysia is the lead country and MTCC serves as the lead agency. In addition, I am also happy to note that MTCC has been providing technical assistance to countries such as Myanmar, India and China pertaining the development of their national certification schemes under the PEFC frameworks. Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, 15. In view of the importance of forests, it is envisaged that the

issue of legal and sustainable timber products will continue to receive the attention of the international community, as well as the major timber importing countries. Currently, many developed countries have implemented their public procurement policies, demanding that only timber that is certified for sustainability be used in public projects. There is also the enforcement of various legislation demanding that timber be verified for legality, such as the implementation of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) which came into force on 3 March this year prohibiting illegally harvested timber from being placed on the EU market, the US Lacey Act which compels importers of timber products to undertake due care to purchase only legal timber products in compliance with the laws of the exporting country, and the

Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill 2012 which has also been introduced with similar objectives. 16. It can therefore be seen that there is a plethora of initiatives and

programmes from the demand-side, with varying processes and requirements, all of which are designed to assure the importance of timber and timber products verified for legality and sustainability. Understandably, there is a great deal of confusion amongst all affected parties to understand the different requirements demanded by these importing countries. Diffficulties are more acutely felt by the tropical countries who are often without adequate resource persons and limited finances to attend the numerous discussions and meetings to deliberate on the processes involved. 17. We must view the proliferation of initiatives, all of which are

intended to achieve common objectives, with serious concern. The time has come for the various parties responsible for these initiatives to come together to consider some form of coordination and harmonization. All of us must be concerned with the difficulties and confusion that tropical countries face in understanding, let alone implementing,the different systems for the different markets. Failing which, exports will simply be diverted to other markets where presently no questions are asked. Such unitended consequences will, I believe lead to business as usual and affect the implementation of sustainable forest management in the long term. 18. In this regard, I would like to congratulate and applaud the

PEFC for the good work and the important role that it has taken in 7

providing assistance to its Members in developing national forest certification systems through collaborative efforts with all the interested stakeholders, tailored to local priorities and conditions. The fact that the membership of the PEFC is growing rapidly is a testimony of its increasing acceptance and recognition worldwide. 19. In conclusion, I would like to once again thank the PEFC and

MTCC for inviting me to officiate the 18th General Assembly of PEFC. I have been informed that many of you will be participating in a field visit to certified forest areas in the Pahang FMU, with an overnight stay at Taman Negara, our renowned National Park. I am optimistic that this field visit will enable you to have a better appreciation of the forest certification process and deeper understanding of the operation of the MTCS. 20. I also hope that you would take some time off after the PEFC

Certification Week to further explore and experience the beauty and hospitality of Malaysia and its people. On that note, I have the pleasure to officially declare the 18th General Assembly of PEFC open. Thank you. Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities 13 November 2013