This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 21, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) has registered 59 new certified timber companies via the chain of custody (CoC) certification in 2015, a 21% year-on-year increase, which marks it as the third-highest increase globally in the number of CoC-certified companies that year.

In a statement yesterday, MTCC chief executive officer Yong Teng Koon said the council was recently honoured with an award from the programme of the endorsement for forest certification, the world’s largest forest certification scheme, for the achievement.

Yong said by obtaining the CoC certification under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS), timber and timber-related companies do not only help protect the forest, but also gain a better market position and positive brand image for their products.

There is also the added advantage of improved access to the global market.

Yong said the importance of implementing sustainable forest management practices is to ensure that the three pillars of sustainability, covering the social, environmental and economic aspects, are “adequately addressed in a balance manner”.

“Sustainable forest management provides multiple benefits, not only in terms of mitigating climate change, but also in safeguarding biodiversity and other ecological and social services,” he added.

MTCS is recognised under the Malaysia Green Building Index and other Green Building Systems in Singapore, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, United Arab Emirates and the United States.

The certification scheme is also recognised by the national government procurement policies in Denmark, the UK, Germany, Finland, Belgium, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand.