Certification & Verification

There are several grades to certification & verification of timber. The first is timber from unknown sources which is unwanted in the timber industry, this particular because not knowing the sources of your timber can not exclude illegal timber from your Chain-of-Custody. Second is timber from known sources. This is timber for which the source is known, but which still is not verified as being legal timber. The third stage is timber of Verified Legal Origin (VLO). This timber is known to be harvested from a legal source and has a Chain-of-Custody where all suppliers have the right permits, mandatory approvals and all the documents required by the specific permitting frameworks of the country involved. With Verified Legal Compliance proof that the timber was produced in a manner that complies with all applicable and relevant laws and regulations governing forest management and trade in the jurisdiction is given. It however proofs no sustainable management of the forest and the Chain-of-Custody. For this last stage there are sustainable recognized certificates. Between the stage of verified legal compliance and sustainability is the stage of Controlled Wood. Controlled Wood is virgin material originating in non-certified forests or plantations from suppliers included in the verification program of organizations certified according to FSC-STD-40-005.

For verified legal compliance Lionex (M) Sdn. Bhd. works with different systems. For timber from the tropical regions in Africa we use the TLTV (Timber Legality and Traceability Verification) certificate which is operated by SGS. For Malaysian timber we use the MTCS (Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme) certificate, operated by MTCC (Malaysian Timber Certification Council) and the Keurhout Legal certificate.
The MTCC is endorsed to PEFC (Program of the Endorsement of Forest Certification) which is internationally recognized as a sustainability certificate. However as Lionex (M) Sdn. Bhd. follows European recognition, we do not yet recognize MTCC as a sustainable certificate, but as a legal compliance certificate. MTCC is working hard to get European recognition as a certificate for sustainable forestry.

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is used as a certificate to proof sustainability by Lionex (M) Sdn. Bhd. Most of our FSC timber is from Brazil and countries in the tropical regions of Africa.

In 2008 Lionex (M) Sdn. Bhd. traded 29% of their timber with a verified legal compliance certificate and 2% with a sustainable certificate. And although we acknowledge the long road ahead we set ourselves the goal of trading 100% verified legal compliance timber and 50% sustainable timber by the end of 2010, and trading 100% sustainable timber by the end of 2011.