Dear Paul Romeijn, Firstly, thanks for the faxed copy of the abovementioned WWF Media Briefing dd. 12-June-1996. In this brief, "WWF is deeply concerned that certain sections of the international timber industry will try to use the ISO's good name to develop a "quasi-ecolabel" as an alternative to independent certification.....This is liable to lead to confusion in the marketplace between certification of a company's environmental management system (under ISO procedures), and a credible environmental label which attests that good forest management is being practised." - Dr. Claude Martin, DG, WWF. "In spite of this worldwide forest destruction, parts of the forest industry are now attempting to introduce a sham certification system under the ISO. Independent forest certification promotes good forest management and the protection of forests and wildlife - the ISO model cannot offer this." - Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, Head of Forests, WWF Intl. ***In Rio de Janeiro, 16-21 June 1996, WWF representatives will be pressing ISO to reject the Standards New Zealand proposal and urging it to support the Forest Stewardship Council*** Question #1. The question of independent certification. Is the FSC truly independent ? If the certification process is subjected to a payment of professional fees, how would the FSC be more independent than ,say, SGS for example ? Does this mean that FSC will be totally free of any vested interest ? The present teakwood scandal in the Netherlands seems to prove neither WWF nor FSC are totally competent and independent in the certification process. Moreover, richer companies/countries would have an edge over the poorer ones. Unless, FSC's certification process is a not-for-profit operation where a third world country has the same access & platform as a G7 country. Question #2. Is the certification process of FSC superior to ISO 14000/14001 ? Would FSC consider forest health, quality of soil, harvesting methods, fresh water resources, biodiversity, silviculture treatment, etc...in the final analysis ? If so, are there any published, supporting documents by FSC available ? In the first place, one would need an army of professionals to certify any forest as per abovementioned. Do they exist in FSC ? Question #3. To certify a forest and its products, an audit trail must be established. This deals with the chain of custody problem. How would FSC monitor each & every piece of forestry product ? Question #4. Who certifies FSC ? Any comments anyone ? God bless. Nelson Wong MTC
Mail converted by
MHonArc 1.1.0