1. The mandate of the North American Forest Products Study Group (FPSG) is to promote and enhance the efficient and sustainable use of forest products within North America by bringing together and expanding upon the "Body of Knowledge"of information and scientific and technical expertise related to North American wood and non-wood products.

B. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

2. The goals and the objectives of the FPSG are to:

• the exchange of existing and emerging forest products technology within North America;
• appropriate expertise in each country;
• a network of scientific or technical experts to address issues of concern to the forest products sector in North America.

C. STUDY GROUP COMPOSITION

3. The FPSG is comprised of two members each from Canada, the United States and Mexico. The chair rotates between the three countries on a 2 year cycle. Canada provided the chair in 1997/98. The United States will assume the role in 1999/2000. Appendix A lists the membership of the FPSG as of November 1998.

4. The FPSG is divided into 4 subcommittees representative of issues identified by the study group as having importance to the North American forest products sector. Each subcommittee is lead by a study group member. The following subcommittees have been established with appropriate country lead indicated:

• Product Standards (United States);
• Supply (Canada);
• (United States);
• Forest Products (Mexico).

D. SUMMARY OF 1997-1998 ACTIVITIES

5. The following activities were conducted during 1997-98:

• scientific and technical network;
• conference calls, 1 face to face meeting;
• one international workshop;
• a proceedings manual from workshop (ongoing).

Scientific and Technical Network

6. One of the recommendations arising from the 18^th Session of the North American Forest Commission (NAFC) in 1996 was that the FPSG expand it's membership to include a wider range of technical expertise in the chosen area of focus, particularly in non-wood forest products.

7. To assist in addressing the issues outlined by the study group, each country expanded it's membership by inviting technical experts from their respective countries to participate as working members of the 4 subcommittees. A mix between industry, academic and government personnel was sought. Appendix B summarizes the composition of the sub-committees.

Meetings

8. Mindful of the study group goal to "facilitate a network of scientific or technical experts to address issues of concern to the forest products sector in North America", the "core" study group convened regular tele-conference calls during 1997-98 to further advance the objectives of the study group. Numerous tele-conference calls were also convened between the 4 sub-committees. A face-to-face meeting of the study group occurred in Merida Mexico in June 1998.

International Workshop

9. To fulfill the study group objective of "facilitating the exchange of existing and emerging forest products technology within North America" the FPSG organized a one day workshop in Merida Mexico on June 23, 1998. Perspectives from each country (Canada, United States and Mexico) were presented in the areas of: wood product standards; fibre supply; non-wood forest products and forest certification.

10. The workshop was held in conjunction with the Forest Product Society annual meeting which took place between June 21 and 25, 1998. Approximately 80 American, Canadian and Mexican delegates attended the study group workshop. Financial assistance in organizing and undertaking the workshop was obtained from the Canadian Forest Service and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Funds were also made available from the NAFC Bureau of Alternates (BOA) to offset travel and accommodation costs of selected experts (non study group members) to participate in this workshop.

11. Abstracts from each of the workshop presentations appear in Appendix C (available at the session).

Proceedings Manual from Workshop

12. Completed papers from the June 23, 1998 workshop are planned to be distributed to workshop participants in a Proceedings Manual. It is anticipated that the Proceedings Manual will be complete in early 1999.

E. 1999-2000 WORK PLAN

13. The following work plan is being considered by the FPSG for the years 1999/2000.

General

14. To disseminate information pertaining to the FPSG, linkage with the existing FAO / SG web site will be pursued. Links to the USDA Forest Products Laboratory, the Canadian Forest Service, Forintek, and SEMARNAP will be initially explored. Other potential links may include the Canadian Wood Council, the American Wood Council and regional "specialty" US Forest Service Links.

F. SUB-COMMITTEES

Certification

15. The subcommittee will play a monitoring role of activities conducted within the three countries in the future. Information pertaining to various certification meetings and new developments have been proposed to be posted on the web page when available.

Fibre Supply:

16. The sub-committee has proposed to produce one (1) paper providing a North American perspective of fibre supply. It is expected that this effort will also draw upon expertise from universities in the three countries.

Wood Product Standards:

17. The subcommittee has proposed to produce one (1) paper that addresses the commonality as well as differences between the wood product standards of the three countries. The paper will derive information from the three (3) papers presented at the June 23, 1998 workshop.

Non Wood Forest Products

18. The subcommittee has proposed the following activities:

• the possibility of organizing a workshop of non wood forest resources involving participation from all three countries.
• a directorate of persons and institutions involved in the marketing of non wood forest products in each of the three countries.
• a data base of industrious species by country.
• a document outlining the principal non wood forest resources of North America.

APPENDIX A

North American Forest Products Study Group Membership

Canada
Bob Jones (Chairman) (Term Expires December 1998)
A/Director, Industry Division
Industry, Economics & Programs Branch
Canadian Forest Service
Department of Natural Resources
7th Floor 580 Booth St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E4
Phone: (613) 947-9041
Fax: (613)-947-7399
E-Mail: [email protected]

Jean Cook,Manager, Wood Engineering
Forintek Canada Corp.
2665 East Mall,
Vancouver, B.C.
V6T 1W5
Phone: (604)-224-3221
Fax: (604)-222-5690
E-Mail: [email protected]

United States
Susan LeVan (Chair 1999 - 2000)
Assistant Director
USDA Forest Products Laboratory
1 Gifford Pinchot Drive
Madison, WI 53705-2398
Phone: (608)-231-9493
Fax: (608)-231-9567
E-Mail: susan.levan/[email protected]

Thomas A. Snellgrove
Leader, Sustainable Development
USDA Forest Service
P.O. Box 96090
Washington, DC 20090-6090
Phone: (202)-205-1556
Fax: (202)-205-2497
E-Mail: Snellgrove_Thomas/[email protected]

Mexico
Felipe Jimenez, Director De Desarrollo Forestal
Secretaria de Medio Ambiente
Recursos Naturales y Pesca (SEMARNAP)
Avenida Progreso, 5
Colonia del Carmen, Coyoacan
CP 04110 Mexico,D.F.
Phone: (525) 658-5918
Fax: (525) 554-8843
E-Mail [email protected]

Alfredo Martinez Torres, Secretaria de Medio Ambiente
Recursos Naturales y Pesca (SEMARNAP)
Avenida Progreso, 5
Colonia del Carmen, Coyoacan
CP 04110 Mexico,D.F.
Phone: 011-5-25-658-66-20
Fax: 011-5-25-658-
E-Mail [email protected]