In search of ecolabeling for forestry products<\/p>\n
By Samsudin Berlian<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It has been some time since the term
\n\"ecolabeling\", or environmental labeling, entered the vocabulary
\nof green movements, but so far little has been done to turn the
\nwords into action.<\/p>\n
The term has been used more as a political tool in
\ninternational trade talks -- especially among tropical wood
\nexporters and industrialized countries under public pressure --
\nthan it has been implemented as policy to boost environmental
\nprotection.<\/p>\n
Former environmental minister Emil Salim, who currently leads
\na team of five task forces on forestry resources ecolabeling to
\npave way for the establishment of an Indonesian Ecolabeling
\nAgency, said the industrialized countries cry forcefully about
\nthe need for ecolabeling without knowing the \"how\" of it. \"There
\nis a lot of talk but no substance,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Emil told The Jakarta Post that those countries' leaders do so
\n\"to face domestic pressure, to show they are strong on
\nenvironmental issues.\"<\/p>\n
\"It's not fair,\" Emil added, \"the flag is environment but the
\nload is domestic politics.\"<\/p>\n
This situation can no more be blamed on the lack of sincerity
\namong political decision makers -- in fact the European Community
\nhas decided to implement ecolabeling regulations in the year 2010
\n-- than on the fact that the term, though very clear in
\nprinciple, is not detailed or specific enough to be endorsed as a
\nworking policy.<\/p>\n
The basic idea of ecolabeling is that products should be
\nlabeled so consumers will know they have been manufactured
\nwithout harming the environment, and that by using these products
\nconsumers will encourage manufacturers to protect the environment
\nduring production.<\/p>\n
Emil likened the idea of ecolabeling to the ISO-9000
\nestablished recently by the International Standard Organization.<\/p>\n
While the ISO-9000 deals with product quality, ecolabeling
\nwill deal with the processes of manufacturing, utilizing and
\nexploiting resources as they relate to producing a product.<\/p>\n
Emil said the ISO has formed a technical committee on
\nenvironmental management to discuss the ecolabeling on various
\nproducts. The committee will deal with problems such as toxic and
\nhazardous wastes, pollution and other threats to the environment
\nposed during a product's life cycle.<\/p>\n
Emil said he expects Indonesia to accept the results of ISO's
\nwork on ecolabeling, expected to be completed soon, just as it
\naccepts the ISO-9000.<\/p>\n
But currently the ISO does not deal with ecolabeling as it
\nrelates to resource protection, Emil said, and this is where his
\nfive task forces come in.<\/p>\n
Limiting itself to the ecolabeling of tropical woods
\nresources, Emil's task forces -- four of them dealing with forest
\nmanagement, environment, socioeconomic issues, and ecolabeling;
\nand the other one reviewing the works of the four -- will try to
\nreformulate some principles of exploiting tropical forests into
\nworkable criteria.<\/p>\n
Emil accepts the principles of both the Forest Stewardship
\nCouncil (formed last year by non-governmental organizations
\nincluding Greenpeace and World Wide Fund for Nature) and the
\nYokohama-based International Tropical Timber Organization
\n(established by forestry companies and governments) which have
\ndetermined that the forests should be sustainably managed,
\nbiodiversity should be maintained and the local community
\n(indigenous population) should benefit from the exploitation.<\/p>\n
But the principles are too broad and general, and so cannot be
\nimplemented as such. For example, they do not specify the
\ncriteria for determining whether the principles are being adhered
\nto by forestry companies.<\/p>\n
The two organizations are currently in the preliminary stages
\nof establishing the specific criteria for ecolabeling on resource
\nprotection.<\/p>\n
But Emil Salim said he cannot wait for them to complete their
\npresent tasks so he has invited Indonesian NGOs, forestry
\ncompanies, government officials and experts in various fields to
\ndiscuss the issue and to try to set the criteria.<\/p>\n
Although he does not know exactly how the international bodies
\nwork, he said his approach to the efforts is likely to be
\ndifferent from theirs.<\/p>\n
Emil is using fieldwork to approach the problem, that is, he
\nis designating what should be examined on site to qualify timber
\nproduct for ecolabeling.<\/p>\n
After the criteria are formulated, assessor firms will need to
\nassess the companies' performance in managing the forests
\nsustainably, helping indigenous people improve their livelihood
\nwithout destroying their identity and preserving the
\nbiodiversity.<\/p>\n
A panel of experts will evaluate the results of the assessors'
\nreports and grade the companies.<\/p>\n
The task forces will test publicly listed forestry companies
\nnext month based on the criteria that have already been
\nestablished. Then the work will be revised to alleviate the
\nproblems discovered during the testing period.<\/p>\n
In the process of ecolabeling forestry companies, Emil said,
\nthe most important factor -- which will make all the efforts
\nworthwhile -- is credibility.<\/p>\n
Emil hopes to achieve it by maintaining open management, that
\nis transparency in all his group's doings, and by soliciting the
\ninvolvement of all interested parties, including international
\nbodies, although the latter are not directly involved in the task
\nforces.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Ecolabeling Agency -- expected to be functional
\nby 1997 and chaired by Emil -- must work without being subject to
\npressure from interest groups. Emil said he expects the
\ngovernment to endow a permanent fund to the agency to make it
\nfinancially independent.<\/p>\n
While Emil's efforts are in line with the demands of
\ninternational consumers, dissatisfaction with the one-sidedness
\nof the demands, which concern only tropical forests, have been
\nvoiced by the Indonesian government and timber tycoon, Mohammad
\n\"Bob\" Hasan.<\/p>\n
Hasan does not object to ecolabeling tropical timber products,
\nbut he wants similar rules to apply to products from temperate or
\nboreal forests.<\/p>\n
\"It is not fair to impose ecolabeling only on products from
\ntropical forests owned by developing countries, while forestry
\nproducts from temperate zones, mostly owned by developed
\ncountries...do not fall under the rule,\" Hasan said recently.<\/p>\n
\"A campaign is needed to impose ecolabeling on all products of
\nall forests of this earth.\"<\/p>\n
His concerns are understandable as Indonesia's timber exports
\nwere worth US$5.47 billion (Rp11.77 trillion) last year,
\naccording to the Central Bureau of Statistics. Hasan also claims
\nthe industry directly supports 2.5 million families and
\nindirectly supports another 1.5 million.<\/p>\n
Dissatisfaction has also come from within. S. Indro Tjahjono,
\ncoordinator of the Indonesian NGO Network for Forest Conservation
\n(Skephi) and head of the special task force whose job is to
\nreview the other four task forces, told the Post he expects more
\nfrom their efforts.<\/p>\n
\"I am not satisfied,\" he said about the task forces' decision
\nto let forestry companies chose for themselves if they want to
\n\"give\" something to appease the indigenous population living in
\nthe forests through community development programs.<\/p>\n
\"The indigenous people have Adat (customary) rights over the
\nforests, they should be counted as shareholders by right, not
\npity.\"<\/p>\n
Indigenous people have lived in the forests for a long time
\nand practically owned the forests until the companies, sanctioned
\nby the government, come to claim them.<\/p>\n
30<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/in-search-of-ecolabeling-for-forestry-products-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }