Date: 18 January 2017
Company Name: Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB)
The government of the Netherlands has accepted the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) under the Dutch Public Procurement Policy for Sustainable Timber, following a parliamentary debate.
The Dutch Minister for the Environment, Sharon Dijksma of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment had earlier made the decision to fully accept the MTCS through a letter to the Dutch Parliament dated 22 December 2016, following the positive outcome of the fact-finding mission by senior government officials and members of the Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC) to Malaysia from 23 to 25 November 2016.
The decision is an important milestone for the MTCS and a significant endorsement of Malaysia’s commitment and ongoing efforts in promoting sustainable forestry and timber industry through certification. The Dutch market is the largest importer of certified timber products from Malaysia, accounting for about 30 per cent of the total export of Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)/MTCS-certified timber products.
Additionally, the PEFC/MTCS-certified timber products constitute approximately 50 per cent of the total certified tropical timber imported into the Dutch market. It is therefore envisaged that the acceptance of the MTCS will certainly contribute towards the country’s ambition of procuring at least 90 per cent of its tropical timber imports from sustainable sources by 2020. The Netherlands becomes the latest country to fully recognise the MTCS in its public procurement policy along with other countries who have previously accepted MTCS such as United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland and Japan.
