The goal is to try to link trade to the sustainable management of the forest resource, by providing buyers with information on the management standards of the forests from which the timber came. Although certification by itself is unlikely to ensure sustainable forest management, it does have the potential to encourage stronger efforts towards sustainable forest management. There are still a number of unanswered or unresolved issues and uncertainties concerning certification. In many countries the question of whether to support certification or not is still being debated. It remains unclear as to whether there will be a strong and growing demand for certified wood, and whether a price premium is likely.
Views vary greatly, particularly between countries, and within countries between different groups.
In many countries this is one of the major issues that are under debate. There is a need for a degree of international consensus, both because of concern over the wide and varied activities that are taking place, and the fact that a lack of any common agreement will result in different schemes, which have only limited acceptance and therefore limited effectiveness. The main goal of the criteria and indicators processes is to improve forest management through the definition of SFM and the assessment over a period of time of progress towards it. Certification is one of a number of market-based instruments that may contribute to improved management of the forests and to improved forestry sector development. It is a means to certify the achievement of certain, pre-defined standards of forest management in a given forest area, at a given point in time, agreed upon between producers and consumers.