The proposal was tabled today at the 49th meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Advisory Committee on Paper and Wood Products outside Johannesburg, South Africa. This was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the International Council of Forest and Paper Association (ICFPA).

The ICFPA will now use the A3P and NZFOA proposal as the basis for developing a position paper for ICFPA which will be written by 30 June 2008 and will be circulated to its member countries in a series of international meetings aimed at being completed in time for the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP).

A3P CEO Mr Neil Fisher said, “A3P and NZFOA have demonstrated that by working together and using well researched data the Australian and New Zealand Forest Industry can achieve great things.”

NZFOA chief executive David Rhodes said, “When comparing the size of the Australian and New Zealand forestry industry to that of the big five (Canada, United States, Europe, Brazil and Russia), it is very impressive to know that we can make a meaningful contribution to international policy.”

A3P and NZFOA worked constructively together for the past three months to identify six key issues the ICFPA and its 37 member countries need to address in international fora and when working with their respective national government. These are:

• Separation, of forestry from agriculture, and of components of forestry
• Harvesting and wood products
• Flexible land use (reforestation/deforestation)
• Length of commitment period
• Credits and future liabilities
• Reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation

The ICFPA represents national industry organisations whose members produce paper and wood products. ICFPA members are committed to sustainable forest management, sustainable use of resources and sustainable production of forest products to meet the growing needs of society.