Indonesia: Asmindo and Senada encourage use of verification stamps for market access
02/07/2008 - 13:27
The Jakarta Post reported that Asmindo (the Indonesian Furniture producers Association) and Senada (a US Agency for International Development project) held a meeting in which participants discussed how wooden furniture producers verified under third-party sustainable forest or legal logging licenses are guaranteed better access to international markets. Using the verification stamp of sustainable forest management (SFM), producers can assure buyers that their product was made from a sustainably managed forest. The Verification of Legal Origin (VLO) and Chain or Custody (CoC) stamps prove the legality of the wood supply. Senada’s project director, Steve Smith, said that verification was a stepping stone to tracking legal timber and that the market would eventually require all furniture to be produced from sustainably managed timber sources. Seneda was also working with certification bodies and consultants to provide assistance for the VLO and FSC certification processes for at least 40 furniture companies in Indonesia. Asmindo chairman Ambar Tjahyono said more buyers required these verification stamps, especially since the US and EU have been developing new bilateral and multilateral measures that would prevent imports from unsustainable and illegal sources. Asmindo estimated that wooden furniture exports rose 10% in 2007, reaching USD897 million when compared to USD816 million in 2006. Indonesia Log Prices
