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Positive and negative aspects of various actors' involvement in certification in Latin America were collated in this paper, based on a series of interviews in Central America, and on a detailed case study of one certified forest management unit in Brazil. Forest management units that had received certification from the Forest Stewardship Council tended to be the most innovative, already practising sustainable harvesting. Governments were uncertain of their role in certification and had provided few legislative incentives. Nonetheless, the strong demand for certified timber abroad kept certification an attractive option, though some critics felt that this represented the imposition of Northern philosophy and practitioners on the business interests of the timber industry in the South.