KEY ISSUES: INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT
Forest and Wood Products Australia
A3P has been a driving force behind the creation of Forest and Wood Products Australia (FWPA), an industry owned company responsible for research and development and generic marketing and promotion. In June 2007 the Australian Parliament passed the legislation required to give effect to FWPA - the Forestry Marketing and Research and Development Services Bill 2007 and Forestry Marketing and Research and Development Services (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Bill 2007.
FWPA replaces the statutory body, Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation (FWPRDC). The new entity will maintain the existing national industry-wide investment in R&D while undertaking a national generic wood promotion and marketing program.
Generic marketing and promotion
FWPA will provide a national generic wood marketing and promotion program that will link to other programs at the sector and individual company level. Potential benefits of such a program could include the following:
- Growth in overall market volume / price by reversing the decling trend in market share and defending the market from competing products.
- A shift in target audience attitudes to be more favourable towards wood.
- Maximum benefits for marketing and promotion efforts by: providing leverage for existing sector programs, spreading the overall costs of marketing and promotion efforts, sharing market information across industry and adding strength to company brands.
R&D Companies and Agencies
Continued investment in research and development (R&D) is essential for the future viability and competitiveness of Australia's plantation products and paper industry. The majority of R&D is undertaken directly by companies and agencies who are actively involved in plantation growing, timber processing and paper manufacturing. Cooperative R&D is undertaken through many organisations including:
- Forest and Wood Products Australia (www.fwpa.org.au),
- Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry (www.crcforestry.com.au/),
- Cooperative Research Centre for Wood Innovations (www.crcwood.unimelb.edu.au/),
- Cooperative Research Centre for Greenhouse Accounting (www.greenhouse.crc.org.au/)
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) (www.csiro.au)
- Ensis - the joint forces of CSIRO and Scion (www.ensisjv.com)
- Bushfire Cooperative Research Centre (www.bushfirecrc.com/ )
- Southern Tree Breeding Association (www.stba.com.au)
Timber Information
Free technical information on the source, selection, properties and other atributes of plantation timber based products available for use in building and construction applications.