The fundamental objective of the Flor y Fauna teak plantations in Costa Rica is the achievement of a certain financial return, based on specified projections on yields and prices. This means forests managed according to a set of guidelines, principles and criteria, approved by all members of the organization. This includes basically all industrial and tropical countries with any noticeable participation in the international trade of tropical timber products, either as exporters or as importers. The main exporters of tropical timber today are Indonesia and Malaysia. In 1994, the forestry sector contributed 6.7 billion dollars in export earnings to the Indonesian economy, about one-fifth of all exports from the country.
Plywood accounts for over two-thirds of forest products exports by value.
It is now in its implementation phase, to take place gradually through the year 2000, together with the required capacity building and marketing efforts. It is meant to encourage the sustainable management of forests, and the trade of eco-labeled timber products, within the framework provided by the International Tropical Timber Agreement, and in compliance with national sustainable development objectives. Malaysia is the dominant exporter of tropical logs, sawnwood and veneer. In 1995, it accounted for about half of such exports by volume, valued at about 2.8 billion dollars. Malaysia has developed its own set of criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of its forests, to be adopted by the National Timber Certification Council as the standard for certification.