The Building and Wood Workers' International (BWI) World Board held its first meeting in Brussels on 31 May 2006. Among the various items on the agenda, the Board approved the constituting of a new Global Network for Wood and Forestry. It appointed Stefaan Vantourenhout of ACV Building and Industry, and World Board Vice-President to chair the group on behalf of the Board, with Bob Ramsay of BWI as moderator.

On June 1, the network held its first meeting, which was attended by representatives of BWI regional offices and a number of affiliates. In total, around 30 participants from affiliated unions in 13 countries, BWI regional and project offices in Latin America, Africa and Asia were present, as well as the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW).

The meeting held a discussion on the future role and functioning of the network, which will primarily operate electronically and later with a designated, password protected, part of the main BWI website. This will enable all members of the network to more easily make contributions for general information and discussion.

It is also hoped that the network, now established, can be expanded as widely as possible to include all those affiliates in the wood and forestry sectors.

If you know of someone in your own organisation who is interested in participating in the activities of the network, please send an email to bob.ramsay@bwint.org and give their name, as well as position in the union and in which country he/she is.

The network members received an overview of the challenges facing the industries, as well as some ideas on how the network should function. This presentation was made by Bob Ramsay, head of the global programme. A copy of the full presentation will be sent to the network members, along with a recently published BWI research report on the emergence of a global production chain for wood and wood products.

Reports were presented by all regions on recent developments in the sector. The power point presentations for Latin America and Asia will also be forwarded to you in a separate mail. If you wish to see them now, click here.

One particularly urgent issue raised was the growing concern that the PEFC certification system may be considering granting recognition to the US-based forest certification system, despite that the latter excludes any reference to respect of labour standards. All present agreed that if the need arises, they will be in contact with the PEFC certification bodies in their own countries in order to raise this alarming tendency.

Among the key conclusions of the discussion on the future priorities of the network were:

extend the network to include as many affiliated unions as possible, and to develop it as a vehicle for information exchange and discussion of relevant issues, including the use of the BWI website

develop the network's role to improve solidarity when required

promote the expansion of certification systems in "new" countries, for example Vietnam, or at least the inclusion of social standards in government policies and standards for forests;

develop an adequate policy and response on China, which is now the world's largest importer of round wood and the largest exporter of furniture and allied products. This should be developed in close coordination with the BWI's governing bodies;

further develop framework agreements with multinationals, as well as the effective and improved monitoring of those already negotiated;

track changes in global supply chains, particularly in the multinationals;

track "illegal" logging activities and the trade in these products, and where possible, begin to define this term;

expose the reality of some economic and business models that are being promoted as being socially and economically successful;

monitor developments in the European Union concerning trade and certification issues;

further develop the dialogue with supranational bodies of the United Nationals, such as UNFF (UN Forum on Forestry), ITTO (International Timber Trade Organisation) and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation)

encourage affiliates to become further involved with the certification bodies in their own countries, such as FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council)

develop thematic issues and discussion within the network

encourage the alignment of the various certification standards towards one common standard