1 The Process of China National Forest Certification Scheme March 16 th, 2015 New Dehli Benson Yu

Today Agenda The scheme building process of China Forest Certification Scheme(CFCS) The endorsement process between CFCS and PEFC Government policy support

The Scheme Building Process of CFCS

China Forest Certification Scheme (CFCS) The process started in Fully in line with laws and regulations. The process was driven by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) and multiple stakeholders involvement process. In March of 2001 Division of Forest Certification was established within SFA.

Certification standards setting were launched in 2001 for FM and in 2003 for COC. Drafting staff from research institutes, forestry colleges, FMUs, enterprises and NGO etc. FM & CoC standards were released as forestry sector standards in Both standards were revised and upgraded into national standards in China Forest Certification Scheme (CFCS)

FM and COC (Sector Standards) in 2007

FM and COC standards (National Standards) in 2012

China Forest Certification Scheme (CFCS) The first local certification body was approved by CNCA in 2009, another 3 were approved at the beginning of China Forest Certification Council (CFCC) was founded as the scheme governing body in 2010, which consists of representatives from all stakeholders, 21 members. CFCC consists of Secretariat, Arbitration Committee and the Stakeholder Forum.

Logo of China Forest Certification Council 9

CFCC Progress in Certification Practice Until now: For FM: 4.31 million ha of forest areas of 23 FMUs – Covering: natural forests and plantations, in the north and in the south For COC: 16 certificates

Accreditation According to Certification and Accreditation Regulation – Auditors: have to be accredited and registered by the China Certification and Accreditation Association (CCAA) Certification bodies(CBs) for CFCC, have to be: – all of the CBs have to be approved by the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) – For FM certification, accredited by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) – For COC certification, accredited by either CNAS, or other members of International Accreditation Forum (IAF) etc

12 Apart from FM and COC certification, CFCS has also other scopes of certification: No timber forest products (NTFP) Bamboo forest management Forest eco-environmental services Commercially managed endangered, rare and precious species Carbon sequestration forest China Forest Certification Scheme (CFCS)

13 The Endorsement between CFCS and PEFC

In 2005 the State Forestry Administration (SFA) sent the delegation to visit PEFC Council. From 2007 SFA sent delegation to attend the PEFC General Assembly as observer. In 2011 CFCC joined PEFC as an national member. In September of 2012 CFCC formally delivered the application and the scheme documents to PEFC Council for endorsement. CFCS was endorsed by PEFC in Feb of The Endorsement between PEFC and CFCC

Procedure 1: Application (Sep of 2012) Procedure 2: International bidding for scheme assessment body (from Oct to Dec of 2012) Procedure 3: International Consultation (Oct to Dec of 2012) Procedure 4: External assessment process (Jan to July of 2013) Procedure 5: Panel of experts review (Dec of 2013) Procedure 6: Recommendation by the PEFC Council Board of Directors (Jan of 2014) Procedure 7: Decision by the General Assembly (Feb 5 th of 2014) 15 The Endorsement between PEFC and CFCC

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Government Policy Support

A SFA policy document issued in 2010 The Chinese Government is very supportive to forest certification, especially the national scheme (CFCS) A policy document “SFA Guiding Principles on Accelerating the Work of Forest Certification” was issued in September 2010, with key policy instruments – Incorporate certified products into government procurement policy – Support in other areas (technical guidance, information service, project arrangement, resource utilization and market access) for certified FMUs and companies

Very likely government procurement policy SFA policy document specified “ incorporate certified products into government procurement policy as soon as possible” A project on feasibility study and technical design is being conducted Should be very effective as the percentage of government procurement in the government spending, state revenue and GDP is quite high in China compared with most countries in the world

Other likely policy instruments Likely government subsidy policy for certified products listed in the government procurement policy – Subsidy directly to certified FMUs and companies, with amount close to certification costs.

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