Sydney. Oct 14, /Asia Pulse/. A national forestry standard launched on Friday to market Australian timber products was a rubber stamp that international companies would ignore, according to an environmental group. Federal and state forestry ministers today endorsed the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) with the backing of the timber industry and unions. The voluntary standard requires independent auditors to certify that practices of forest growers - from small-lot farmers to big state and private enterprises - are sustainable. Green groups earlier withdrew from helping draft the standard, saying their concerns over such issues as pesticides, clear-felling and conversion of native forest to plantations were not addressed. World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia spokesman Michael Rae said the AFS had little credibility compared with certification from an international body which the federal government had tried to keep out. "It doesn't pass the test in Brazil and the developing world, so how this government system expects that the market's going to stomach it happening in a developed country like Australia is laughable," Mr Rae said. Technical reference committee chairman Hans Drielsma said the standard was for forest managers who wanted to demonstrate to customers a commitment to sustainable management that went beyond the minimum requirements of the law. "The development of the AFS reflects an increasingly discerning international market for wood products where environmental credentials are becoming significant factors," he said at the launch in Sydney. Forestry and Conservation Minister Ian Macdonald said the standard imposed strict and environmentally-friendly criteria on timber. "Buyers can be confident that timber and wood products with an AFS certification come from sustainably grown, managed and harvested forests," Senator Macdonald said. But Mr Rae said big hardware retailers in North America and Europe would snub the certificate. "They aren't going to accept the Australian Forestry Standard as meeting their concerns as to providing their customers with wood from well-managed sources," he said. Tasmanian Resources Minister Paul Lennon said the AFS would also help Australian companies compete with the A$2 billion (US$1.09 billion) worth of forestry products imported annually, most of it from forests that were not sustainably managed. The AFS "will put pressure on timber imports coming into Australia because they will have to meet the same standard that we have here", Mr Lennon said. Asia Pulse