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Forest Certification in China
In contrast with sluggish timber markets and exports due to the global economic crisis, the demand for forest certification and certified wood has been ever-growing in China among many countries worldwide. Three forest certification schemes are currently active in China: FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes), and most noticeably, China’s national forest certification scheme (CFCC) which is soon to be officially launched by the Chinese government.
FSC is currently the largest forest certification program in China in terms of number of certificate holders and certified forest area. Thanks to significant capacity-building work by a coalition of international NGOs led by World Wild Fund (WWF)’s Global Forest Trade Network (GFTN) Program, FSC has achieved fast growth in China – which has become the No. 1 country in Asia in terms of both number of COC certificates and certified forest area. As of January 2010, the number of FSC-CoC certificates in (mainland) China has reached 971 (Figure 3), compared to only one in 1998. The area of forests certified by FSC has also increased to over 1.35 million ha, or approximately 0.7% of nation’s total forest area (195 million ha), with a total of 20 forest management certificates issued (FSC 2010).
FSC-certified forests in China are predominantly timber production forests. Almost all FSC-certified FMUs (19 out of 20) are holding both FM and COC certificates which allow them to sell raw materials to FSC-COC-certified manufacturers down the supply chain. About half of these FM companies are vertically integrated enterprises with in-house timber processing capacities and well-established distribution channels. In terms of regional distribution, over 80% of FSC-certified forests are distributed in Northeast China, consisting of Heilongjiang (44%), Jilin (29%) and Liaoning (11%), and South China’s Fujian Province accounts for 12% of certified forests, mostly timber plantations. Plantations account for 12% of total FSC-certified forests in China, natural-plantation mixed forests 86%, and natural forests 2%. Chinese pine, Masson pine, Chinese fir, Korean pine, poplar and paulownia are major FSC species.
The dominance of government-owned forests is another feature of FSC-certified forests in China. Over 90% of certified forests are owned by state/regional forestry bureaus and affiliated forest management units. This reflects the “top-down” approach that many international NGOs led by led by WWF-GFTN are taking in promoting forest certification to China. The State Forestry Administration and other relevant government agencies all seemed to be supportive of (or at least not against) FSC’s development in China, as FSC is new to China and they hope to learn from the international forest certification system in order to help with the development of national forest certification standards. Also, it is largely owed to the fact that government-owned forest sites are normally better managed and financed than collectively-owned and private forests, and therefore are more readily to get certified with a lower “transaction cost” – the initial investment needed for improving infrastructure and employee training in order to meet FSC requirements.
PEFC is another major forest certification scheme in China. Different from FSC process, which is best characterized as one global system with many national standards for forest management, PEFC acts as an umbrella system through mutually recognition of national (in most cases government-backed) forest certification schemes. PEFC awarded its first COC certificate in China in 2006. As of May 2010, 93 COC certificates have been issued by PEFC in China, up from 31 in 2008 and 10 in 2007. PEFC has not issued any FM certificate in China due in large part to the absence of recognized China’s national forest management standards.
Chinese government is actively preparing to launch its first national forest certification system after nearly a decade of capacity-building work since it became a member of the World Trade Organization. Following the 12th Meeting of the Montreal Process Working Group in Beijing in November 2000, the Chinese government started the process of building a national forest certification system, and established the Forest Certification Department (FCD) of the State Forestry Administration and later, China Forest Certification Council (CFCC) to administer the system’s overall development. The national scheme, which includes both forest management and chain-of-custody certification standards based on FSC, was officially released in September 2007 by CFCC. Several pilot projects have been carried out since 2005 in three phases covering 19 provinces across the country, including Jilin, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Yunan, Hainan, Anhui, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Shaanxi. In September 2009, SFA established Zhonglin Tianhe (Beijing) Forest Certification Center as the first “legal” certification body in the country accredited by Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) to carry out forest certification in China. As the Chinese government furthers its forest tenure reform with an aim to liberate domestic timber markets and to increase annual income of forest farmers, it can be expected that CFCC will be further promoted by the government as a tool to reward forest farmers by following national forest management standards. Also, CFCC, which could be less costly to pursue compared to FSC by using mostly local auditors, could win wider support by local industry, particularly, after it is endorsed by an internationally recognized scheme and therefore guarantees industry’s access to international markets.
FSC is currently the largest forest certification program in China in terms of number of certificate holders and certified forest area. Thanks to significant capacity-building work by a coalition of international NGOs led by World Wild Fund (WWF)’s Global Forest Trade Network (GFTN) Program, FSC has achieved fast growth in China – which has become the No. 1 country in Asia in terms of both number of COC certificates and certified forest area. As of January 2010, the number of FSC-CoC certificates in (mainland) China has reached 971 (Figure 3), compared to only one in 1998. The area of forests certified by FSC has also increased to over 1.35 million ha, or approximately 0.7% of nation’s total forest area (195 million ha), with a total of 20 forest management certificates issued (FSC 2010).
FSC-certified forests in China are predominantly timber production forests. Almost all FSC-certified FMUs (19 out of 20) are holding both FM and COC certificates which allow them to sell raw materials to FSC-COC-certified manufacturers down the supply chain. About half of these FM companies are vertically integrated enterprises with in-house timber processing capacities and well-established distribution channels. In terms of regional distribution, over 80% of FSC-certified forests are distributed in Northeast China, consisting of Heilongjiang (44%), Jilin (29%) and Liaoning (11%), and South China’s Fujian Province accounts for 12% of certified forests, mostly timber plantations. Plantations account for 12% of total FSC-certified forests in China, natural-plantation mixed forests 86%, and natural forests 2%. Chinese pine, Masson pine, Chinese fir, Korean pine, poplar and paulownia are major FSC species.
The dominance of government-owned forests is another feature of FSC-certified forests in China. Over 90% of certified forests are owned by state/regional forestry bureaus and affiliated forest management units. This reflects the “top-down” approach that many international NGOs led by led by WWF-GFTN are taking in promoting forest certification to China. The State Forestry Administration and other relevant government agencies all seemed to be supportive of (or at least not against) FSC’s development in China, as FSC is new to China and they hope to learn from the international forest certification system in order to help with the development of national forest certification standards. Also, it is largely owed to the fact that government-owned forest sites are normally better managed and financed than collectively-owned and private forests, and therefore are more readily to get certified with a lower “transaction cost” – the initial investment needed for improving infrastructure and employee training in order to meet FSC requirements.
PEFC is another major forest certification scheme in China. Different from FSC process, which is best characterized as one global system with many national standards for forest management, PEFC acts as an umbrella system through mutually recognition of national (in most cases government-backed) forest certification schemes. PEFC awarded its first COC certificate in China in 2006. As of May 2010, 93 COC certificates have been issued by PEFC in China, up from 31 in 2008 and 10 in 2007. PEFC has not issued any FM certificate in China due in large part to the absence of recognized China’s national forest management standards.
Chinese government is actively preparing to launch its first national forest certification system after nearly a decade of capacity-building work since it became a member of the World Trade Organization. Following the 12th Meeting of the Montreal Process Working Group in Beijing in November 2000, the Chinese government started the process of building a national forest certification system, and established the Forest Certification Department (FCD) of the State Forestry Administration and later, China Forest Certification Council (CFCC) to administer the system’s overall development. The national scheme, which includes both forest management and chain-of-custody certification standards based on FSC, was officially released in September 2007 by CFCC. Several pilot projects have been carried out since 2005 in three phases covering 19 provinces across the country, including Jilin, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Yunan, Hainan, Anhui, Hebei, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Liaoning, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Shaanxi. In September 2009, SFA established Zhonglin Tianhe (Beijing) Forest Certification Center as the first “legal” certification body in the country accredited by Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) to carry out forest certification in China. As the Chinese government furthers its forest tenure reform with an aim to liberate domestic timber markets and to increase annual income of forest farmers, it can be expected that CFCC will be further promoted by the government as a tool to reward forest farmers by following national forest management standards. Also, CFCC, which could be less costly to pursue compared to FSC by using mostly local auditors, could win wider support by local industry, particularly, after it is endorsed by an internationally recognized scheme and therefore guarantees industry’s access to international markets.
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