ABSTRACT

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 the "body of knowledge" through collaboration between scientific and technical experts on wood and non-wood products in North America. The goals of the FPSG are to:

• Facilitate exchange of existing and emerging forest products technology within North America;
• Identify appropriate expertise within each country;
• Facilitate network of scientific and technical exchange.

The FPSG is divided into four working groups. The working groups identify various critical issues and develop a work plan to address these critical issues. The four working groups are:

• Wood Products Standards
• Fiber Supply
• Non-Wood Forest Products
• Certification

Past accomplishments include:

• Conference calls and technical exchanges
• International meeting in Merida Mexico
• Published proceedings of Merida meeting
• Translation of Wood Construction Manual into Spanish
• Developed 1999/2001 Plan of Work
• Published papers from each country in Wood Design Focus on the wood product standards within each country

Future activities include:

• Translation of proceedings into French and Spanish
• Paper on state-of-the-art of wood products in each country
• Paper on changing wood product demand
• Several face to face meetings
• Summaries of workshops on non-forest products
• Summaries of certification activities within each country
• Possible international meeting in June 2002

MANDATE

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" through collaboration between scientific and technical experts on wood and non-wood products.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The goals and objectives are to:

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

STUDY GROUP COMPOSITION

The FPSG is comprised of two members each from Canada, the United States and Mexico. Chair rotates between the three countries on a 2-year cycle. The United States is providing the chair in 1999/2000. Appendix A lists the membership of the FPSG as of March 2000.

The FPSG is divided into four working groups. Working groups are charged with identifying the pertinent issues to the North American forest products sector. Technical experts from the three countries chair each working group. The following working groups have been established:

• Wood Products Standards (Roland Hern�ndez, United States)
• Fiber Supply (Chris Gaston, Canada)
• Non-Wood Forest Products (Felipe Jim�nez, Mexico)
• Certification (Heliodoro S�nchez Pimental, Mexico)

SUMMARY OF 1999-2000 ACTIVITIES

The following activities were conducted during 1999-2000:

• Expanded scientific and technical networks;
• Held six conference calls and participated in one technical exchange;
• Finalized proceedings from workshop;
• Initiated translation of workshop proceedings into Spanish and French;
• Developed plan of work.

Scientific and Technical Network. Accomplishments for past two years are:

• Communicated with other representatives regarding working group issues;
• Discussed and prioritized critical issues;
• Developed plan of work; and
• Looked for opportunities to work together.
• calls and technical exchanges. Conference calls are mode for the FPSG to communicate. Conference calls occur every two months. Technical exchanges are another means we communicate:
• U.S. representative gave presentation at the International Forestry Exposition (EXIFOR) in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Proceedings. FPSG held an International meeting in Merida, Mexico in June 1998. A proceedings, titled "North America Forest Products Study Group", is published. A copy of the proceedings is attached. The FPSG is working to translate the Proceedings into Spanish and French.

Requests to NAFC. The FPSG requested and received funding support from the BOA of US$9,000 to cover translation, typesetting and printing of the Proceedings into Spanish and French.

Identification of Issues. The FPSG uses working groups to identify emerging issues. The working groups consist of technical specialists from each country. The working groups are charged to develop work plans for two years to address pertinent issues and develop activities to respond to these issues. Work plans for next two years follows:

Wood Product Standards: Working group is developing a tri-national state-of-the-art paper to discuss the following in each country:

• Various wood products produced
• Species
• Current trends in use of wood products
• Wood product standards
• "General" third-party inspection requirements

Fiber Supply: Working group is developing paper on changing wood product demand and implications on demand for North American fiber supply. Working group is planning to meet at the Western Forest Economics Meeting in Wemme, Oregon, May 8-10, 2000.

Non-forest products: Working group is exploring a tri-national workshop on non-wood forest products. Representatives are drafting executive summaries of their respective conferences to share with others.

Certification: Working group is monitoring activities on certification within their respective countries. Working group is preparing a yearly summary of the certification activities within their own country.

Constraints and Opportunities. Conference calls help to communicate but are not the best methods. We have had technical telecommunication difficulties this past year but have found AT&T teleconferencing to be the most reliable. Face to face regular meetings are the best methods. We are planning a FPSG meeting in June of 2002. Costs for travel to such a meeting are a barrier. The NAFC Commissioners and FAO could help with funding travellers.