Page 267 - Invited Paper Session (IPS) - Volume 2

IPS243 Arvydas L.

The new proposal of forest products
classification and definitions
Arvydas Lebedys , Michal Synek
2
1
1 Forestry Officer (Statistics), FAO, Rome
2 Member of the national team on Forest Products Statistics in the Czech Republic, Olomouc –
Czech Republic

Abstract
The first version of Forest Products Classification and Definitions (FPC&D) was
prepared by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
and published in 1973 with last adoption in 1981. The paper summarizes the
updated proposal on classification and definitions that takes into account the
recent changes in technology, changes in wood-based industry and in trade
and incorporate new wood and paper products.
The new proposal of FPC&D constitutes a complete product classification
covering all wood and paper products. It has been designed to provide a
comprehensive view on wood and paper products which will be useful in
relation to forestry and forest industry production, industry capacity and trade.
They do not attempt to lay down strict definitions such as might be found in
national standards or in trade and tariff regulations, but they do aim at
drawing attention to the characteristics which differentiate between items that
are of practical importance in the different areas of the sector's activities, and
to indicate aggregate and subdivisions of products and materials that have
practical significance. The new version of FPC&D also provides a framework
for international comparison and promotes harmonization of various types of
statistics related to forest products. Moreover it can be useful in developing
statistical systems related to forests and producing statistics on production,
industry capacity and trade and it can also serve as a useful reference for the
correspondences between existing international statistical systems related to
forests.

Keywords
forest products statistics; wood products; paper products

1. Introduction
A system of classification and definitions is an essential component in work on
forest products statistics, industry and trade statistics, and in the development
of forestry and industry statistical systems. A variety of classifications,
nationally and internationally, have been developed to suit a wide range of
statistical needs. Therefore, there is also a strong need for correspondence
tables between various classification systems. Meanwhile, these classifications

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