Most forestry firms unprepared for ecolabeling
Most forestry firms unprepared for ecolabeling
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo
said yesterday that an assessment of 61 forest concessionaires in
Indonesia has concluded that only nine of them are considered
"adequately prepared" to meet eco-labeling requirements.
Djamaludin told reporters after meeting with members of the
Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires (APHI) that none
of the 61 concessionaires, however, were categorized as
"prepared" for eco-labeling.
Twenty-two concessionaires were categorized "satisfactorily
prepared", 19 "inadequately prepared" and 11 "totally unprepared"
to meet the eco-labeling requirements which will be applied
globally starting in the year 2000.
He declined to mention the names of the concessionaires.
The 61 concessionaires were assessed as part of a pilot
project introduced last year with an aim of identifying the
indicators of sustainable forest management and preparing forest
concessionaires to enter the eco-labeling era.
Eco-labeling will, in the next century, become a prerequisite
for producers of tropical timber to gain access to markets in
certain consumer countries.
The International Tropical Timber Organization said last year
that Indonesia, Malaysia and Ghana were considered the most
prepared tropical timber producers to meet the eco-labeling
requirements.
Djamaludin said yesterday that the results of the assessment
would not effect the status of a concessionaire, nor would it
qualify a concessionaire for an eco-labeling certificate.
"It is only an indicator of whether or not a concessionaire
will be ready to face an independent assessor (for eco-labeling
purposes)," he said.
Djamaludin, in his speech to APHI's 175 members, yesterday
reiterated that forest concessionaires would face serious
problems in the future.
These included declining tree stocks from natural tropical
forests, increasing business competition in the upcoming free
trade era as well as the emergence of issues of indigenous
peoples' rights and of widening socioeconomic gaps.
"Forest concessionaires must operate efficiently to win the
global competition because in the future, the market will only be
willing to accept cheap, good-quality wood coming from forests
with environmentally sound management," he said.
Timber tycoon and APHI Chairman Mohammad (Bob) Hasan said
yesterday that 14 experts and 107 assessors worked simultaneously
for seven months to assess the 61 forest concessionaires. The
assessment cost almost Rp 1 billion (US$434,782).
Since the early 1970s, when the government started awarding
forest concessions to companies, the licenses of 111 concessions
have been revoked due to poor forest management. Currently, 491
forest concessionaires operate in the country.
APHI executives said earlier this year that the association
expected all its members to have been assessed for eco-labeling
by the 1998/1999 period. (pwn)