Six years later we re yet to see a hurricane, but the certification breeze is certainly causing a stir. Certification is now considered an important element in the development of international forest policy. Kanowski and his co-authors canvass outstanding issues and outline the range of policy responses that might be made by the international community. A coalition of German importers and exporters suggests that certification is acting as a non-tariff barrier to trade and calls for action through the World Trade Organization. The rapid growth of certification raises a host of questions.
Few data are available from which to derive answers to such questions.
ITTO continues to address certification issues in its forum. May. The report will assist Council members to keep abreast of developments in the field and to take the international policy debate forward. Meanwhile, FSC data hint at recent improvements in tropical forest management. For example, around 840,000 hectares of natural forests are certified in Latin American ITTO member countries Bolivia, Brazil and Honduras. In 1989, the ITTO publication No timber without trees found only 75,000 hectares of sustainably managed forest in the entire region.