BASELINE STUDY 5, Thailand - Forest Trends

over 11,000 hectares (Smartwood 2008). This research did not discover how the certified FIO teak is being sold,
or whether the certified chain of custody for these logs is being maintained. Recently, Siam Forestry (subsidiary
of Siam Cement Group, or SCG) has organized group FSC certification for a number of their contracted pulpwood
farmers.
By 2011, there were 35 Thai wood processing companies holding FSC Chain of Custody certificates. Interviews
with FIO staff reveal their concern with the costs of FSC certification, with statements that FSC certification
costs 1 million Thai Baht (US$33,000) per plantation compared to 50,000 Thai Baht (US$ 1,700) per year for an
FIO-owned plantation certification. The cost difference is partially explained by using a Thai auditor for FIO certification
scheme, whereas FSC uses an international auditor in combination with a Thai auditor.
There is the potential for developing FSC certification of community forestry areas in Thailand (e.g. Markopoulos
2003), which could involve certified local timber or non-timber production, as a means for promoting local
livelihoods. FSC certification also holds some potential for leveraging the languishing community forestry process
as a whole, through boosting the economic incentives in support of economic communal forest production.
However, certification could also bring fast-growing commercial plantations into community forestry, a
move that many of the community-oriented Thai NGO’s and academics oppose on ecological and socioeconomic
grounds.
7.2.2 ITTO Project
Thailand has also submitted a proposal to ITTO in May 2009 for the sustainable forest management (SFM) and
criteria and indicators (C&I) process, although they are still waiting for clearance. The RFD will start with pilot
projects before scaling up to the national level, which will include plantations that are both private and public
(FIO) operated, as well as for community forests (pending national legislation). This will also include documents
for COC.
7.2.3 Pan ASEAN Timber Certification Initiative
The Thai government is also, along with other ASEAN countries, participating in the Pan-ASEAN Timber Certification
Initiative, which aims to further collaborate on timber certification at regional and international levels to
achieve sustainable forest management (SFM) by adopting a phased-approach timber certification scheme using
internationally recognized criteria and indicators for SFM.
7.2.4 Ensuring Smallholder Participation in Certification Schemes
Smallholder plantation managers have rarely been able to participate in either private or public certification
schemes, and may pose the most significant challenge to establishing timber legality assurance systems in the
country. However, TISI currently offers a pilot project on “group certification” for smallholding plantations. In
addition, the FSC offers group certification programs for smallholder forest producers. In Thailand, Siam Forestry
(subsidiary of Siam Cement Group, or SCG) has organized group FSC certification for a number of their contracted
pulpwood farmers.
7.3 Rules and Regulations for the Wood Industry
The RFD’s Division of Permission plays an important role in the country’s wood import and export industry.
Companies must follow systematic procedures to obtain a wood export certificate, for example. Only the FIO,
however, can get permission to export logs and sawnwod from Thailand.
© EU FLEGT Facility, BASELINE STUDY 5, Thailand: Overview of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade, July 2011
This Action is funded by the European Union and the governments of Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. The views expressed herein
can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
www.euflegt.efi.int
45