China unveils legality pilot
25 January 2013A pilot timber Legality Verification Standard has been launched by the China National Forest Products Industry Association (CNFPIA), according to the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO).
The initiative was announced at the Forest Products International Trade Forum in Nanning, along with undertakings by eight CNFPIA members that they would participate in the pilot project.
The latter will last 12 months and eventually involve 30 companies.
The initiative is billed as "an important step in verifying the legality of material in the Chinese timber industry".
Participating companies will undertake to comply with the Standard and be issued with verification certificates. In return, they will be able to use the CNFPIA's "Legal Timber" logo.
The Association said the move would help combat illegal logging and help companies "respond to new requirements in the international market".
It is also reported that log output from China's forests in 2012 is expected to have risen to more than 80 million m3, while its wood panel sector is estimated to have exceeded 200 million m3 and output of "other forest-based industries" to be up to 146 million tonnes.
