Certification to FSC standards has expanded rapidly in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries during the last few years. Currently there are more than 15 million ha of forests certified under FSC’s international standards (not including Russia). Central and Eastern European countries play a key role in supplying Western European markets, today the most important markets for FSC certified products.
FSC has become an increasingly valuable marketing tool. However there are still some challenges to overcome in order help certified companies find the right supply and demand. Based on an initiative of FSC’s European Regional Office and the FSC International Center, with the generous support of the DOEN Foundation, FSC Europe is implementing the “Broker Project” aimed at facilitating the trade between producers of FSC products in CEE countries and Western European markets.
After consulting with the business sector, since 2005, and finding out in detail where the problems are, the project is now moving towards developing a model aimed at solving those problems by engaging the business sector in several European countries (Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom, potentially also other countries like Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania).
FSC National Initiatives in these countries are working together on the development of a range of services such as linking supply and demand, export promotion, understanding FSC standards, and the correct use and promotion of the FSC trademarks. These services are aimed at addressing the problems and bottlenecks that have been identified during the last few years, and helping demand meet supply of certified products.
This site is part of the service to the business sector, showing how FSC and its network can help stimulate the trade in certified products, and satisfying at the same time the demand for services in support of FSC certification.
The project has been very well received by several companies supporting FSC, with a few important of them, such as Starbucks (www.starbucks.com) and Marks and Spencer (www.marksandspencer.com) joining the broker project and benefiting from the expertise and networking capacity of the European FSC network.
The project has also involved smaller and medium sized companies, like the Italian EcoFashion (www.ecofashion.it) and the Croatian Klana (www.klana.com) in the international trade in FSC products, and it is currently negotiating the affiliation of more companies.
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