A third meeting, the "Expert Consultation on Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000", was held in Kotka in 1996. Thirty-two countries sent representatives to the meeting, as did various NGOs and international organizations. Following Kotka III, a FRA 2000 strategic plan was developed, which provided the overall conceptual framework for the assessment. Recommendations made in Kotka III were then endorsed by the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) in 1997 and became part of the baseline requirements for the background of FRA 2000.

Kotka III recommendations

• The Secretariat should provide guidelines and definitions so that countries can adapt their data to fit the requirements.
• Countries should be encouraged to adjust their data as far as possible to the common definitions and common reference years, describing precisely both how the data were collected and how they were adjusted.
• Countries should submit adjusted data for a specified reference period, as well as the sources data from which they area derived. The most recent data should preferably not be older than 10 years.
• The Secretariat should present national data as provided by individual countries. However when necessary, and after consultation and consent with the national correspondent, it may present its own adjusted estimates, provided they are identified as such and the adjustment/estimation method is specified.
• The Secretariat aggregates the national data collected as described above. In addition, it should add an indication of the reliability of the regional and the global totals, by quantifying an interval which is likely to include the "true" value. This interval should take into account all deviations from common definitions, assessment periods and methods.
• Countries should provide an indication of the conformity of their data to the common agreed standards, which will be used in estimating the interval which is likely to include the "true" value.
• Countries should be encouraged to develop or modify their inventory methods so that they can provide results according to the common standards. This requires that these common standards and definitions remain constant over time.