B.C.Y. Freezailah,
Former Executive Director of the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) andcurrently Chairman of the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC)
Title“Challenges and Prospects for Further Advancement of Wood Verified as Legal andSustainable (Goho-wood)
I. The area of tropical forests sustainably managed and certified is relatively small whencompared to temperate and boreal forests. This indicates the complexity of tropical forestsand countries and the challenges faced by many developing tropical countries. Therefore
global initiatives to promote legal timber, such as Japan’s Goho-wood, EU FLEGTVoluntary Partnership Agreement and the US Lacey Act are most pragmatic in the pursuitof the long-term objective to certify tropical forests for sustainability.
II. Malaysia is a major exporter of tropical timber and timber products which amounted toabout RM 23 billion in 2008 of which Japan accounted for 20 percent mainly in the form ofplywood (64 percent), furniture (13 percent), logs (7 percent) and sawntimber (5 percent).
Japan and Malaysia therefore play important and strategic roles from the demand andsupply sides to promote Goho-wood. It must be stressed that international trade in tropicaltimber is vitally needed in order to provide the leverage to influence policies and practices
to promote the production of timber that meets the requirements of Goho-wood. Without
such trade we would lose a strategic means to promote the supply of Goho-wood.
III. Malaysia’s timber supply is sourced from three legal categories of land:•••

Permanent Reserved Forests (PRF)
State Land Forest (SLF)
Alienated Land (AL)PRF and SLF are public owned whilst AL is under private ownership. PRF are sustainably
managed whilst SLF and AL are not and are being converted into other forms of land-uses.
Currently, about 33 percent of PRF (4.43 million hectares) have been certified as being
sustainably managed under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme which has beenendorsed by PEFC. Thus, timber sourced from Malaysia’s certified forests with
Chain-of-Custody Certification is sustainable timber and has no difficulties in meeting therequirements for Goho-wood.

35

IV. Efforts are underway to implement sustainable management and certification of the restof PRF. Nevertheless, harvesting and other procedures are being implemented in these
uncertified PRF, SLF, AL to assure their legality to meet Goho-wood’s legality requirements.
V. The whole world is brain-storming on the implementation of incentives in both exportingand importing countries, to promote trade of legal tropical timber to contribute to thelong-term objectives of achieving sustainable management of tropical forest. These include
public procurement policies of Japan by the Japan Federation of Wood Industry Associationfor Goho-wood. In an extreme action, Norway announced a ban on the use of tropicaltimber for government projects. Legislation is in force (US) or being enacted (EU) to deter
the importation of illegal timber even though with somewhat different approaches
elsewhere.
In view of the tropical forest situation, challenges faced by developing countries, themeasures being promoted by major importing countries and the market situation, how may
the commendable objectives of Goho-wood to combat illegal logging and related illegal
trade, be further promoted? I wish to share some personal views at this Symposium.
•Whilst sustainable wood must continue to be our objective, pragmatism, would
indicate that Goho-wood should focus on legal timber in the short-term.

•Goho-wood is a new initiative. Timber legality is based on the laws of theexporting country and thus country specific and implementation details must beworked out. Teething problems maybe expected. This calls for the establishmentof a bi-lateral consultative forum between Japan and Malaysia with theparticipation of the timber trade. The Expert Group under the Japan-Malaysia
Economic Partnership Agreement can be an appropriate forum for such aconsultative process.

•For the promotion of Goho-wood, there needs to be more clarity on the definitionof legal timber including the listing of all the relevant laws that must be compliedwith including the procedures that must be implemented to demonstratecompliance. In this context, the principles and criteria to define legality under theEU FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement, merit consideration for
Goho-wood.

•Implementation of Goho-wood requirements from the supply side, being a new
initiative should be promoted through a ‘soft approach’. At the same time
credibility is important to blunt any allegations of malpractices. Perhaps, thelicensing authorities should include additional documentation or statement to giveassurance of the legality of the timber consignment exported under the licenseissued.

•In spite of the availability of certified timber in Malaysia, many exporters andmanufactures are not keen to take CoC Certification, because a premium for36

such timber is either very small or non-existent to justify their efforts and extra
costs involved. Such market benefits are also needed due to the extra cost toimplement SFM and certification. We need to consult on how to address thisissue. Perhaps, incentives could be part of the public procurement policy.
•In the context of the discussion to elaborate the definition of legal timber,technical assistance for capacity building should also be considered tostrengthen implementation and where necessary develop new methods andprocedures based on recent advances in technology for better efficiency, andcost-effectiveness.

Vi. Goho-wood is a commendable initiative to combat illegal logging to promote trade inlegal timber to contribute to the long-term objective of achieving SFM and forest certification.
Whilst we need to assure timber legality in a credible manner, it is necessary for theprocedures and arrangements formulated to be pragmatic, and implementable taking into
account costs and market benefits so that the trade in tropical timber is not disrupted orcurtailed. With the support of all stakeholders and consumers, we must all unite and work
together to ensure success of Goho-wood in the important Japan market.

37