Delegates from the Myanmar Forest Certification Committee (MFCC), comprising MFCC Secretary, CEO and Technical Officer of MFCC-PEFC project has attended the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week (APFW 2019) in Incheon, Korea. The APFW (2019) and the 28thsession of the Asia Pacific Forestry Commission (APFC) were jointly organized and hosted by the Korea Forest Service (KFS) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The event was held in Songdo Convensia Convention Center, Incheon, the Republic of Korea, 17-21 June 2019. APFW week is one of the largest and most important forestry gatherings in the Asia-Pacific region in 2019 and provided a venue for a multitude of forestry practitioners across the region and shared views on the most pressing challenges in the forestry sector. APFW was supported by various partners and collaborators including governments, NGOs, researchers, academia and the private sectors. APFC was one of the six regional forestry commissions established by FAO to provide a policy and technical forum for countries to discuss and address forest issues on a regional basis.
“Forest for peace and well-being”
The overall theme of the Fourth APFW was “Forests for peace and well-being”. APFW 2019 was organized along five parallel streams that host a wide range of events, including high-level plenaries, workshops, seminars, and trainings. MFCC delegates joined the plenary sessions, stream (4): Promoting Responsible Trade and Markets and stream (5): Innovating Governance and Institutions. And they especially focused for attending on the stream (5) which was organized by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). MFCC attended: Reimaging Sustainable Forest Certification Realizing Impacts in the Asia Pacific on 18thJune 2019. On 19thJune 2019, they also joined “Lightning Session on Forests for Fashion (PEFC, NTFP-EP)”, “PEFC Certification: a Choice for Sustainable Sourcing Closed Event: Customer Event & Networking Lunch (by invitation)” and PEFC National Governing Bodies Collaboration Meeting Closed Event: Asia marketing hub meeting. At NGB collaboration meeting, MFCC CEO presented the current status of the MFCC-PEFC project and exchanged the knowledge, experiences and challenges of the NGB members
On 21stJune 2019, MFCC also joined “Development of synergies between PEFC & other initiatives such as FLEGT utilizing experience in ASEAN”. Moreover MFCC delegates and PEFC representatives held side meeting and then discussed about the PEFC checklist requirements for the system endorsements on 20thJune 2019. MFCC Secretary also attended the stream (4) events: “Opening Plenary & Session 1: Situation and trends in forest product trade” on 18thJune 2019. On 19thJune, MFCC also joined the stream 4 event: “Actions by producing and consuming countries to regulate timber legality”, “Ensuring Quality and Value through Empowering Community Enterprise Initiative in the Forest Products Trade in the Asia Pacific Region” and “FSC’s impacts in Asia Pacific on the forestry and value chains – perspective from private sector and partners”. Moreover, MFCC also participated the technical poster session and submitted key findings and current status of MFCC-PEFC project in this poster.
