Judging from a selection of recent (1996 - present) proceedings of the annual Environmental Conference sponsored by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry (TAPPI), the creation and implementation of EMS programs has been a lively focus of interest for companies in the forest products sector for some time. A number of TAPPI members have received ISO 14001 registration. It may be significant to note, however, that a sample of recent registrations were all for Canadian facilities, although TAPPI membership extends through North America. Canada appears to have a much more active certification program in place for the forest products sector than is the case for the U.S., at least at present.
On the U.S. side of the border, there appear to be fewer programs in evidence that are specifically directed toward EMS programs in general, or ISO registration in particular. The most active program, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), sponsored by the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), uses neither EMS terminology nor orientation in its apparent approach. They sponsor a third party certification program, though it is by no means tied to the ISO 14001 standards. However, a number of U.S. companies that have been certified under the SFI, though not the majority, have elected to be certified under ISO 14001.
The AF&PA is involved in the ISO standards setting process. Some indication of their concerns may be gleaned from the AP&FA website's description of their members' participation: "As a result of the above initiative, the U.S. wood products industry has responded by increasing its level of participation within ISO committees to insure that ISO standards do not become technical barriers to trade to the use of U.S. forest products." This defensive posture is unlikely to lead to a ringing endorsement of the positive aspects of the EMS approach unless the benefits of EMS programs are carefully laid out, and are carefully distinguished from the bureaucratic encumbrances that can accompany such programs.
Of the few EMS-based templates n evidence, most were of foreign origin. Some samples are listed in the table, together with links to SFI information and other resources.