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Govt applies new certification system
The government has applied a new system of standardization and legal certification for forest management and production as part of its efforts to meet the international market’s increasing demand for green and sustainably-managed products
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he government has applied a new system of standardization and legal certification for forest management and production as part of its efforts to meet the international market’s increasing demand for green and sustainably-managed products.
Hadi Daryanto, director general of forest production development at the Forestry Ministry, said last week the new system was laid out in a ministry regulation.
“The new system will be more reliable as it will be implemented by an independent institution that is more credible and professional.”
He said that under the new system, an organization called the Institution of Independent Evaluators and Verifiers (LPVI) will be tasked with issuing standardization documents for license holders of forest management units (HPH), production forests (HTI), and community forests (HTR), and with providing certification documents legalizing log and wood products made by the wood-product companies.
“The standardization documents will only apply two criteria, namely good or bad, unlike the previous documents that stated wood products were either good, medium, or bad.
“And certification documents will only state whether the products are legal or not,” he said.
The new system requires that all wood-product companies hold legal certification documents for all products sold in domestic and international markets.
He said that unlike previous agencies tasked to do the standardizing and legalizing, LPVI members would consist of mostly independent individuals representing the interests of the public.
“Two third of its members are independent and professional, while the rest come from the government,” he said.
He added the new system would come into effect on Sept. 1, 2009, with a one-year transition period until Aug. 31, 2010.
During the transition, the BRIK (Board in charge of Revitalizing the Forest Industry) and the LPI (Institution of Independent Evaluators) — whose members are mostly government officials — will maintain their responsibilities until the LPVI is ready to take over the tasks from both agencies.
The BRIK, in coordination with the ministry of trade, has until now been the body in charge of certifying wood products before exportation, while the LPI has been issuing standardization documents for license holders of forest management units (HPH), production forests (HTI) and community forests (HTR).
Until now, the international market has been weary of certification documents issued by the government-controlled BRIK and LPI.
