The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) hopes that the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) will be accepted by the Dutch Timber Procurement Policy, beyond 2016.
In a statement Tuesday, MPIC said Malaysia has provided the necessary feedback and information on the MTCS process to help the Dutch Parliament make a decision
“We have provided all necessary details in the Second Malaysia-Netherlands Joint Working Group (JWG) Meeting on Timber and Commodities held here today.
“Currently, MTCS has been given a conditional acceptance under the Dutch Timber Procurement Policy, which ends in June 2016.
“The recognition by the Dutch Timber Procurement Policy will allow the use of timber for public procurement,” MPIC said.
The one-day follow-up JWG meeting was chaired by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and Netherlands Minister of Economic Affairs, Sharon Dijksma.
In 2014, Malaysia’s exports of timber and timber products to The Netherlands were valued at RM398.9 million, an increase of 32 per cent from RM302.16 million in 2013.
Other commodity products exported to The Netherlands includes palm oil and palm-based products valued at RM7.09 billion, rubber and rubber products valued at RM259.04 million and cocoa and cocoa products at RM50.91 million.
