The Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) is an independent organisation established to develop and operate the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) in order to provide independent assessments of forest management practices in Malaysia as well as to meet the demand for certified timber products.

Malaysian Timber Certification Council

Established in October 1998 to develop and operate the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS), which is a voluntary national timber certification scheme in Malaysia. Incorporated under the Companies Act 1965 as a company limited by guarantee, MTCC is governed by a Board of Trustees and started its operation in January 1999.

In performing its role, MTCCs main activities are to:

• Be the national governing body (NGB) which has overall responsibility for the MTCS.
• Support the standard-setting process by cooperating and liaising with the appropriate standards setting body in formulating standards related to timber certification and keeping them under review periodically.
• Process applications for MTCS notification of Certification Bodies (CBs) operating forest management system and/or chain-of-custody certification and issuance of logo usage licenses to Certificate Holders.
• Implement a procedure for the investigation and resolution of complaints and appeals related to its role as the NGB.
• Liaise closely with the national accreditation body and other certification organisations in matters related to timber certification.
• Coordinate with national, regional and international bodies related to timber certification to facilitate cooperation and mutual recognition arrangements.
• Conduct programmes to promote and publicise the MTCS, both locally and internationally.

Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme

The Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) began operation in October 2001 using a phased approach due to the greater challenges encountered in managing the complex tropical forests. The standard initially used for assessing Forest Management Units (FMUs) for the purpose of certification was the Malaysian Criteria, Indicators, Activities and Standards of Performance for Forest Management Certification [MC&I(2001)] which is based on the 1998 ITTO Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Management of Natural Tropical Forests.

During the second phase of the implementation of the MTCS beginning late 2005, MTCC has been using the Malaysian Criteria and Indicators for forest management certification [MC&I(2002)] which contains nine principles, 47 criteria and 96 indicators.

As at 10 March 2009, MTCS has been accepted under the Keurhout Protocol for Legal Origin (KH-LET) in The Netherlands (previous acceptance is by certificate only). In addition six forest management units (FMUs) and 11 MTCS Certificate for Chain-of-Custody have been accepted under the Keurhout Protocol for Sustainable Forest Management (KH-SFM).