pefc newsletter 41 march 2008

8/9/2019 PEFC Newsletter 41 March 2008

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The PEFCC Newsletter is produced by the PEFC Council (Registered as an asbl in Luxembourg No. 1999-61-02192)

17 Rue des Girondins, L-1626 Hollerich, Luxembourg ■ Tel: +352 26 25 90 59 ■ E-Mail: [email protected] Web Page: www.pefc.org

Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes No 41 March 2008

PEFC/01-00-01

IN THIS ISSUE

PEFC Council AnnualReview 2008

PEFC Council GlobalStatistics

Guidance on “Project”

Chain of Custody PEFC Governance

Review

Peer review up andrunning

PEFC commissionsSocial Criteria study

PEFC hosts high profileWestminster dinner

Chicago Carbon

Exchange endorsesPEFC

Xerox chooses PEFC

The Guardian usesPEFC paper

New position papers

Assessment of national certificationschemes

Revision of the PEFC

Chain of Custodystandard

Revision of the PEFCLogo Usage Rules

Reports from the PEFCNational Member Countries

PEFC acts on new Strategy

With the new strategy adopted by the PEFC at its GeneralAssembly recently, the process of implementation has nowstarted. PEFC expects to have transferred its international

office to the World Trade Center in Geneva, Switzerland,by mid May, and is in the process of recruiting new

communications, development and administration staff.The office will allow PEFC to be nearer to key stakeholders and partners andits new internationally accessible location will make it much easier for stakeholders to meet and work with PEFC.

Editorialby Ben GunnebergSecretary General

At the same time we have initiated several reviews. The first is a governancereview to be conducted by a review panel, including external consultants andstakeholders which will propose improvements and alterations to the presentgovernance structure (see later article). The Royal Institute of InternationalAffairs (otherwise known as Chatham House) has been commissioned toproduce a public report on social criteria in timber procurement policies. Work

on the development of PEFC’s new communications strategy andimplementation plan will start with the appointmentof the new Head of Communications, and the Boardhas also been active in the production of severalposition papers. These include positions on Carbonand Forest certification, Conversions and the newWWF Paper Scorecard.

As a start to its review and revision of the documentation, to make the rulesand standards easier to understand and implement without diluting their rigour, PEFC will start with the revision of both its international Chain of Custody standard and also its logo usage rules. PEFC members, customers

as well as other stakeholders will be provided with the opportunity to providetheir experiences and opinions as a part of the consultation. In additionrequirements for certification bodies being developed together with theInternational Accreditation Body will be finalised.

PEFC will run its training session for national secretaries in Sweden in Mayand the General Assembly will be held in Australia in October.

(Continued on page 2)



PEFC Newsletter - Promoting Sustainable Forest Management For more info: www.pefc.org ( ) For full details of news, press releases, reports etc. see website above

No 41 – March 2008

PEFC Council Global Statistics

CountriesEndorsed

certified forestarea (ha)

Number ofCoC

certificates

Australia 7 813 160 20

Austria 3 960 200 248

Belgium 259 527 110Brazil 973 830 5

Canada 75 396 676 95

Chile 1 700 284 14

China 0 8

Czech Republic 1 849 754 222

Denmark 207 101 20

Finland 20 719 735 114

France 4 230 482 1 010

Germany 7 299 254 574

Hungary 0 3

India 0 1

Indonesia 0 1

Ireland 0 6

Italy 653 942 82

Japan 0 50

Latvia 0 3

Luxembourg 25 869 8

Malaysia 0 1

Morocco 0 1

Netherlands 0 53

New Zealand 0 2

Norway 7 537 102 11

PEFC Council 0 0

Philippines 0 1

Portugal 0 8

SFI (USA & Canada) 61 012 280 39

Slovak Republic 1 171 385 6

Spain 1 075 744 120

Sweden 7 408 118 87Switzerland 410 544 231

UK 0 579

Total 203 704 988 3 733

The data above is updated regularly and is available on the

PEFC Statistics Interactive Database at www.pefc.org

(29 February 2008).

(Continued from page 1)

Finally we are pleased to announce that the newPolish and Estonian forest certification schemeshave successfully completed their rigorousassessment process and been endorsed by the

PEFC Council, bringing to 25 the number of national schemes now recognised. In addition theBelgian, Danish, UK, and Swiss schemes have

just successfully completed their five yearlyrevision and re-endorsement. The fullassessment reports on all these schemes areavailable on the website and include themandatory Panel of Experts peer reviewcomments published in full.

Ben Gunneberg

PEFC CouncilAnnual Review 2007The PEFC Council Annual Review 2007 is nowavailable. The Annual Review shows PEFC’sdevelopments and achievements in the past year and can be downloaded at www.pefc.org >Documentation > Reports.

Guidance on the“Project” Chain ofCustodyPEFC UK Ltd. in co-operation withthe PEFC Council developed aguidance document which providesan interpretation of the PEFC Chain of Custodystandard for the purposes of site and a timespecific projects. Examples of a project couldinclude a building such as a stadium or an office

building, etc.

The guidance is applicable worldwide and can bedownloaded at www.pefc.org > Documentation >PEFC Technical Documentation > Annex 4.

http://www.pefc.org/







No 41 – March 2008

PEFC Governance Review –

comments invited online

As part if its strategy, PEFC has committed itself to reviewing and restructuring the organisation interms of governance, to improve its operationaleffectiveness and the way it is perceivedexternally. To this effect, the PEFC Councilrecently launched a global Governance Review,directed by an international panel of experts, themajority of whom are independent of PEFC, andwith support from the Z/Yen Group.

The panel, chaired by Lord Jamie Lindsay of UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service),includes Björn Andrén of Holmen Skog AB, JohnDee of Planet Ark, Hans Drielsma of Forestry

Tasmania, Dr. Maharaj Muthoo of the HariEnvironment & Development Society andformerly FSC Executive Director, FrederickO'Regan of the International Fund for AnimalWelfare, and Dirk Teegelbekkers of PEFCDeutschland e.V.

Building upon the unanimous adoption of PEFC'sStrategic Plan in October 2007, the GovernanceReview will focus on a number of importantareas:

Making the PEFC organisation moreeffective;

Ensuring that PEFC's rules and standardsare simple and easy to understand,implement and operate;

Improving external perceptions of PEFC'sgovernance;

Ensuring that PEFC robustly implementsand continuously monitors its ownrequirements at all levels;

Ensuring "buy-in" from PEFC's existingstakeholders;

Removing obstacles to dialogue withenvironmental non-governmentorganisations (ENGOs).

Panel members first met in February and twofurther meetings are planned. External andinternal stakeholder views will be sought by thePanel, via supporting consultants Z/yen using aquestionnaire available at www.pefc.org withyour comments sought by 31 March. This will be

complemented by a series of detailed interviewsof key stakeholders and together this will provide the necessaryinformation to allow the Panel topresent its findings andrecommendations to PEFC toconsider and action. PEFC

anticipates the completion of theGovernance Review by latespring/early summer of this year.

PEFC labelled product © PEFC Spain

Peer Review up and runningA unique feature of PEFC’s governance structureis the mandatory peer review of assessmentreports on national forest certification schemesseeking endorsement or re-endorsement by thePEFC Council which has been in force for over ayear now. This is undertaken by a Panel of Experts and provides an extra level of scrutiny,transparency and accountability which is uniquein forestry certification.

The Panel of Experts is appointed by the PEFCCouncil Executive Committee from applicationsreceived and the composition aims to represent abroad rage of interests including:

Forestry

Certification and accreditation processes

NGOs (including social andenvironmental interests)

Market access

Following detailed initial testing of the newarrangements, the PEFC has made appropriatechanges to ensure greater transparency inreporting of the Panel of Experts members'individual views and the AssessmentConsultant's considered responses.






No 41 – March 2008

New interim principles have been developed toensure complete transparency in the reporting of each individual panel member's view and of theconsultant's response. Examples of this totaltransparency can be found in the assessmentreports of the schemes which have just been

endorsed this month. In the spirit of improving itsoperations and making them more effective, therole of the Panel of Experts in also beingexamined in the ongoing major governancereview of the PEFC Council.

Names and short resumes of current Panel of Experts members are available at www.pefc.org About PEFC > Who’s who > Panel of Expertsand more will be added in due course.

PEFC periodically provides training for panellistsand will use the feedback provided inassessments to improve PEFC’s documentationand rules.

PEFC commissions SocialCriteria studyAs a contribution to the ongoing debate on socialcriteria in forest certification and timber procurement policies, PEFC has commissionedthe Royal Institute of International Affairs

(otherwise known as Chatham House) to reviewthe information currently available and publish areport on the current situation. The report will notmake any recommendations. Rather it willprovide stakeholders with, amongst others, ananalysis of social criteria already covered inprocurement policies both inside and outside theEU, including what they relate to (e.g. worker’sand indigenous peoples rights, health and safety,benefits to local communities, complaints and

disputes resolution and

participation and consultationetc). It will also provide asummary of what internationalstandards and processes thecriteria are based on. It will alsoconsider the situation of procurement schemes implicitlybased on certification scheme

criteria. In addition there will be an analysis of theinteraction of social criteria with, amongst others,WTO procurement rules. The report will alsoexamine the relevant lessons that can be drawnfrom other product sectors where social issuesare relevant to procurement, labelling or

certification schemes (e.g. food, textiles etc).Finally the report will provide an analysis of theissues thrown up by theadoption of socialcriteria, including politicalissues, such as nationalsovereignty, andpractical issues relatingto their implementationand measurement andthe actual or expected

impacts, especially on developing countries,particularly those participating in EU-FLEGTVPAs (Forest Law Enforcement, Governanceand Trade Voluntary Partnership Agreements).

It was planned to have consultation on the issueswith a wide cross-section of stakeholders at abespoke workshop. However as the DanishGovernment is organising a workshop on publicprocurement and illegal logging with ChathamHouse, they have kindly agreed to allow

Chatham House to use this occasion to present afirst draft of the PEFC commissioned study for feedback and discussion as part of their workshop. This workshop will take place on the7th and 8th April in Copenhagen, Denmark.

PEFC UK hosts high profileWestminster dinnerIn February, PEFC UK sponsoreda dinner in the Palace of Westminster at the House of

Lords. The 120 guests at the dinner, hosted byformer UK Forestry Minister and currentChairman of United Kingdom AccreditationService (UKAS) Lord Lindsay, were drawn from awide range of stakeholders including publishers,construction companies, retailers, tradeassociations, house builders and certifiers.

Traditional forest work in Chile

Sami forest worker

http://www.pefc.org/internet/html/about_pefc/4_1137_1210/4_1137_1381.htm



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No 41 – March 2008

The keynote speaker was the Rt. Hon. JohnGummer MP, former Secretary of State for theEnvironment, an experienced internationalnegotiator respected in both the business andenvironmental communities. Indeed, the NGOcommunity has described him as “the best

Environment Secretary we have ever had ”.

Mr Gummer gave a well received and heart felt

speech asserting that timber traders who supplyuncertified products should be “ashamed of

themselves ” and called on global forestcertification schemes to work together toincrease the amount of certified forest rather thanarguing about the differences between therespective schemes, likening such arguments to“differences between the Baptists and strict

Baptists … to anyone else it’s not important ”.

Members of the national PEFC entities fromSweden, Norway, Germany and France and thePEFC Council participated at the event.

Chicago Carbon Exchange(CCX) endorses PEFCThe Chicago Carbon Exchange (CCX) hasendorsed PEFC as evidence of sustainableforest management under its rules for forestcarbon sequestration projects.

The Chicago Carbon Exchange (CCX) is alegally binding integrated trading system toreduce emissions of major greenhouse gases,including carbon dioxide, with offset projectsworldwide. Under CCX’s protocol for sustainablymanaged forests there must be evidence of sustainable forest management of all managedforest land through approved certificationschemes, which includes PEFC endorsedstandards.

Xerox chooses PEFCAs part of its long-standing commitment topreserve biodiversity through responsible forestmanagement and to provide customers with"greener" paper choices, Xerox Corporation, theworld's leading document managementtechnology and services enterprise, earnedChain of Custody certification from both thePEFC and FSC. "As one of the largest global

suppliers of cut-sheet paper, we're now offering

our customers the assurance of the highest

environmental standards provided by these

leading environmental organizations ," said SteveSimpson, Vice Presidentand General Manager,Xerox Paper andSupplies Business Unit.

Lord Linday,Rt. Hon. John Gummer MP and Peter Latham

The Guardian uses PEFC paperIn their latest Sustainability report, “TheGuardian”, “The Observer” and “GuardianUnlimited” state that perhaps their greatestpotential for affecting the environment is throughtheir paper purchasing. In the same light their vision states that "sustainability will be at the

heart of our procurement processes, as we

recognise that our suppliers represent a key part

of our operational impact."

Therefore “The Guardian” installed a new centralprocurement team to make sure that all of their suppliers comply with the necessary conditionsfor keeping them sustainable. A paper procurement policy has been published recently:© Jonckkere

Concerning the use of virgin paper, their paper purchasing policy says: "Put in place procedures

to ensure, as far as possible, that fibre is not

derived from illegal sources or from uncertified

forests in areas of high conservation value.Increase the proportion, where possible, of paper

that comes from credibly certified, well-managed

forests - this will currently include certification

under any of the following schemes: FSC, PEFC,

FFCS, SFI, CSA, UKWAS, although we will

review this list annually."

http://www.xerox.com/Static_HTML/citizenshipreport/2007/nurturing-page7-1.html?Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US

http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/redirect.jsp?id=LNK_NR_forest_management&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US


http://www.xerox.com/go/xrx/template/redirect.jsp?id=LNK_NR_environmental&Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US

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http://www.xerox.com/Static_HTML/citizenshipreport/2007/nurturing-page7-1.html?Xcntry=USA&Xlang=en_US




No 41 – March 2008

New Position Papers

The following position papers have recentlybeen, or are about to be, published on the PEFCwebsite at www.pefc.org > Documentation >Position Papers.

Carbon and Forest Certification

PEFC believes that any credible mechanism of carbon credit trading must recognise and rewardthe carbon sink created by forests managed in asustainable manner as demonstrated throughtheir independent credible certification. To thiseffect PEFC calls on all key decision makers torecognise that::jj

1. Forestry represents an important climatechange mitigation potential;

2. Only sustainably managed forests shouldqualify for carbon credits or any other payments relating to afforestation, reductionof deforestation; forest management(maintaining or increasing stand-level or landscape level carbon density) or increasingoff-site carbon stocks in wood basedproducts;

3. Sustainable forest management must be

demonstrated through credible certificationlike PEFC.

The PEFC is committed to working with others inthe internationalcommunity todesign carbontrading facilitiesand other mechanism whichmotivate and

reward peoplewho manage their forest sustainablyas a significantcontribution toclimate changemitigation.

WWF Paper Scorecard - room forimprovement

WWF published its WWF Paper Scorecard at theend of last year. PEFC Council has welcomedWWF’s acknowledgement that “several schemes

have made contributions to improving forestmanagement”. However this is not reflected inthe scorecard, and an opportunity to make thescorecard a really useful tool has been missedprimarily on two counts.

1. It does not recognize market realities in thata major part of the score card’s emphasis isin differentiating within the 10% of theworld’s best managed forests, rather thanfocussing on the 90% of forest land notcertified to any system.

2. The score card does not differentiatebetween certified and non-certified woodother than FSC. In other words certifiedforests products from internationallyrecognised third-party credible forestcertification systemsare treated the sameas non-certified forestproducts that couldpotentially be from

illegal and/or unsustainable sources.

© FFIF

PEFC Council is convinced that the market andconsumers need and deserve a useful andpractical tool, and PEFC has therefore written toWWF to offer to engage in an open dialogue toaddress these and other points made in theposition paper to improve the score card.

Conversions

This paper gives an overview of the concerns,perceptions and reactions surrounding"Conversions". PEFC is mindful of the sensitivityof this issue and is committed to devoting asmuch time as is necessary to undertake adetailed examination of the issue and to workwith members and key stakeholders to develop arelevant action plan.






No 41 – March 2008

Assessment of 7 nationalforest certification systems7 forest certification systems are currentlyundergoing the PEFC endorsement process.

The PEFC Council has received applications

for the endorsement of two Russian forestcertification systems. One is currently in theprocess of signing the evaluation contract andthe start of the assessment process for thissystem will be announced in the near future.The assessment of the second system hasalready started and the public consultationperiod is currently ongoing as part of theendorsement process.

The assessment and public consultation period

has started for Latvia and is expected to startsoon for Chile and Spain. All interested partiesare invited to send comments during the usualtwo months public consultation period.

The assessment of the ATFS (USA) continuesand when completed the assessment reportswill be published on the PEFC Council website.The Gabonese system assessment has beeninterrupted and will continue when reviseddocumentation is submitted.

The forest certification system of Estonia andPoland have recently been endorsed and thesystems of Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and the UK have all been re-endorsed byPEFC.

As of 28th February 2008, the current Latvian Forest Certification Scheme is no longer endorsed by the PEFC Council and ForestManagement Certificates issued against itcannot be considered as PEFC recognised.The Latvian Forest Certification Scheme was

endorsed on 20th July 2001 and received twoextensions for the endorsement validity incompliance with the PEFC Councildocumentation until 28th February 2008.Please note that Chain of Custody certificatesissued by PEFC notified accredited certificationbodies against the PEFC international Chain of Custody standard (Annex 4 of the PEFC

Council Technical Document) are stillconsidered as PEFC recognised. The PEFCLatvian Forest Certification Scheme is currentlyundergoing its re-endorsement process andsubject to a successful completion of thisprocess, the PEFC Council will be able to

reinstate the endorsement status.

Detailed information on all systems in theprocess of being assessed including their complete documentation is available atwww.pefc.org > Members & Schemes.

Revision of the PEFCinternational Chain of Custody

standardThe PEFC Council is going to launch a revisionof the PEFC international Chain of Custodystandard. The current standard was adopted in2004 and it is expected that a new version of thestandard will be delivered in 2009. During the firstyear the PEFC Council will analyse the usage of the current standard, its weaknesses andlimitations as well as the companies and marketneeds and expectations. The second stage run in

2009 will then be focused on drafting andconsulting the new version of the standard.

The PEFC Council will work closely with itsmembers as well as with other stakeholders toensure that the revision will deliver a consensualsolution accommodating the companies’ needsand at the same time ensuring credibility andtruthfulness of PEFC claims.




No 41 – March 2008

Revision of the PEFC LogoUsage RulesThe PEFC Council has decided tocomprehensively revise the PEFC Logo UsageRules which are

currently defined inAnnex 5 of thePEFC CouncilTechnicalDocument. Therevision processshould be completedin time for the newrules to be adopted atthe next General Assembly 2008 in Canberra,Australia in October.

The revision should deliver an appropriateresponse to the current and future marketcircumstances as well as to customer andconsumer expectations and needs, whilst at thesame time, ensuring that the usage of the PEFCLogo and relating claims remain truthful, credibleand clear.

The revision will be organised in two stages. Inspring 2008, the PEFC Council will analyse thecurrent rules together with market expectations

while the second stage, run in summer 2008, willbe focused on drafting and consulting of the newrules. During the both stages, the PEFCmembers and other stakeholders will haveopportunity to participate in and contribute to theprocess.

New PEFC Council MinimumRequirements ChecklistThe PEFC Council Board recently approved therevised PEFC Council Minimum RequirementsChecklist (GL2/2008) which incorporateschanges to the PEFC Council documentation(Technical Document and Annexes) which wereadopted at the General Assembly. The objectivesof the guideline are to assist bodies, whichdevelop or revise their forest certificationschemes and prepare for PEFC Councilendorsement. They also facilitate the

assessment of the compliance of a nationalforest certification scheme against the PEFCCouncil requirements as part of the endorsementand mutual recognition process. A new version of the checklist (GL2/2008) is available atwww.pefc.org > Documentation > PEFC

Technical Documentation.

New communications managerat PEFC BelgiumMrs Mieke Vercruijsse joins the team of PEFCBelgium as Communications Manager. She is incharge of the Belgian PEFC communicationsstrategy. One of her tasks is to increasecommunication on PEFC in the region of Flanders, situated in the north of Belgium.

PEFC labelled product

Mieke studied sciences of communications at theBrussels Free University andworked 5 years as a journalistbefore joining PEFC. She can becontacted at +32 2 227 56 57 [email protected].

PEFC CouncilNational Secretaries’meeting

The PEFC Council’s National Secretariesmeeting will take place this year from 29th to 31st May 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. This yearlymeeting is the opportunity for the SecretaryGenerals from the various PEFC member countries to exchange experiences and views,initiate new common activities, harmonise their communication activities and receive training onthe latest changes in PEFC certification that willbe implemented at national level.






No 41 – March 2008

Reports from the PEFCNational Governing Bodies

In the following section PEFC member systems,both endorsed and those working towards

endorsement, have the opportunity to present abrief report on the current state of play in their

country. The views expressed here are the viewsof the members and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the PEFC Council.

BELGIUM

PEFC certified productsas prizes in contest

Visitors of this year’s “Bois & Habitat” fair willhave the opportunity to

participate in PEFC Belgium’scontest and win PEFC certifiedproducts such as a sauna,garden furniture, etc. The 10thedition of the fair takes placefrom the 11-14 March 2008 inNamur and welcomes everyyear over 40 000 visitors.Information on the fair and thecontest can be found atwww.pefc.be and www.bois-

habitat.com.Contact: Mieke Vercruijsse

Email: [email protected]

BRAZIL

Authorities gatherat seminar in Rio deJaneiro

Authorities and representatives of governmentbodies, the private sector and non-governmentorganizations recently gathered for a Cerflor Forest Certification seminar organized by the Riode Janeiro Federation of Industries (Firjan) andInmetro.

Inmetro Director of Quality, Alfredo Lobo pointedout the role of the media as an instrument toinform and communicate about the practice of

forest stewardship. The Chairman of PEFCCouncil, Michel Clark and the head of theEuropean Accreditation (EA), Lorenzo Thionepresented a global map with the certified forestarea and its growths. Mr Thione praised theBrazilian forest certification model as well as the

importance of initiatives such as this seminar topromote forest certification.

Both the Rio de Janeiro State Secretary of Economic Development, Energy, Industry andServices, Mr Julio Bueno and a representative of the State Secretary for the Environment, Mr Carlos Minc attended the seminar.

Contact: João Alziro Herz da JornadaE-mail: [email protected]

CANADA

PEFC Canada updatesits website

www.pefccanada.org is being updated. Usefuldocuments that will be available on the revisedwebsite include French translations of PEFCAnnex 4 (Chain of Custody of Forest BasedProducts – Requirements), PEFC Annex 5(PEFC Logo Use Rules) and PEFC Annex 6(Certification and Accreditation Procedures).Reporting forms for certification bodies issuingPEFC and CSA certificates in Canada for forestmanagement as well as information on Chain of Custody certificates will also be available for download on the website.

PEFC certificates on the rise

2007 was a year of growth for the PEFC

endorsed CSA Z809 forest managementstandard and PEFC Annex 4 Chain of Custodycertificates in Canada. December 2006 toDecember 2007 saw an increase in Chain of Custody certificates from 36 to 90 andapproximately 5 million hectares in certified land.

Contact: Rachel DierolfEmail: [email protected]

http://www.pefc.be/

http://www.bois-habitat.com/


mailto:[email protected]

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No 41 – March 2008

FRANCE

PEFC France presentsfilm on sustainableforest management

Important actors of the French forest sector recently gathered to discuss sustainable forestmanagement and the PEFC requirements inFrance. Among them wereMichel Dantin, "SustainableManagement" Counsellor tothe Minister of Agriculture,Allain Bougrain Dubourg,President of the BirdsProtection League, SébastienGenest, President of France

Nature Environnement,Pierre-Olivier Drège, CEO of the Office National des Forêtsand Michael Clark, Chairmanof the PEFC Council.

A film illustrated different aspects of PEFC andsustainable forest management, as perceived bydifferent actors, and encouraged participants todiscuss amongst others:

The integration of the various roles of theforests, including its landscape aspects,in the sustainable developmentdocuments;

The choice of endemic tree species andspecies adapted to soil;

Irregular treatments in the forest;

Links in the ecological network such asborders, riverbank vegetation, forestcorridors and copses;

Necessary measures for the protection of water resources, soil, legally designatedspecies and areas of outstanding interest;

Balance between forests and gamedensity;

Promotion of the PEFC trademark.

Air France prints its magazine onPEFC paper

Air France is now printing itsAir France magazine onPEFC certified paper. The

PEFC logo can be found onone of the first pages of themagazine. By using PEFCpaper, the French airlineunderlines its commitmenttowards environmentalprotection and sustainablemanagement.

Contact: Stéphane MarchesiEmail: [email protected]

GERMANY

First Annual Review byPEFC Germany

PEFC Germany published the most importanttrends and developments of 2007 in its firstAnnual Review, among them an increase of 100.000 ha of PEFC certified forests and 97 newChain of Custody certificates including 36 in the

printing sector. These ongoing positivedevelopments underline the status that PEFCgained in the German forest sector over the lastyears. Ecological awareness of companies andconsumers, the public procurement policy of theGerman governmentissued in January 2007 andimportant communicationand marketing activities byPEFC Germany and thecertified companiescontributed to theseresults. The Annual Review2007 is available atwww.pefc.de.

Contact: Philipp BahnmüllerEmail: [email protected]


http://www.pefc.de/

http://www.pefc.de/





No 41 – March 2008

ITALYResults of PEFC

dy on

In the light of the raising a

Final results show that the consumption of

The results of the study were presented in a

commissioned stuimpact of chainsawfuels made public

wareness of environmental consequences in Italy due tofelling operations that are carried out withchainsaws, PEFC Italy commissioned theNational Research Council “IVALSA – Trees andTimber Institute” (www.ivalsa.cnr.it/ivalsae.htm)to carry out a field research in order to comparethe consumption of traditional and modern fuelsand oils, namely alchylate fuels and bio-oils,used in chainsaws. The goal of this researchfinanced by PEFC Italy was to analyse if the use

of these products is alsoeconomically sustainableand socially acceptable byforest workers enterprises.Two felling field operationswere set up in the Alps andApennines forests, testedon different tree speciesand using differentchainsaw models.

traditional and modern fuel is similar. At the sametime bio-oils last longer than traditional oils. Theuse of modern products resulted in less damageto chainsaw machines seizure, as the internalgears and mechanisms were found to be inbetter conditions. The absence of toxic gasemission and the lower impact of oil pollutants toforest soil, together with a comparable if notbetter economical impact (because of the longer life of the chainsaw machines), bring PEFC Italy

to consider these new products in the futurerevision of the Italian SFM standard.

public seminar at Fieragricola, the most importantagricultural fair in Italy, in February 2008.

Contact: Antonio BrunoriEmail: [email protected]

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

All regions in Slovakianow PEFC certified

The last region in Slovakia, covering the westernpart of the country, received its certificate for sustainable forest management on 19th December 2007. The area of the certified regionZÁPAD is 465 008 ha. In this region, 57 legalentities, representing 66,5 % of the area,committed to manage their forests according tothe requirements of the Slovak ForestCertification System, which was endorsed byPEFC in August 2005. Some of the participantsin regional certification have already submitted

their applications for PEFC logo usage.

Slovakian regions holding a PEFC certificate

The total area of PEFC certified forests in all four regions in Slovakia (STRED, SEVER, VÝCHODand ZÁPAD) is 1.171375 ha, thus providingPEFC certified industrial roundwood from over 60% of the total forest area to the industry.

Slovakian forested land

Contact: Hubert PalusE-mail: [email protected]

http://www.ivalsa.cnr.it/ivalsae.htm



http://www.ivalsa.cnr.it/ivalsae.htm




No 41 – March 2008

SPAIN

Launch of the“Green PublicProcurement Plan”

The Ministry of Presidency of Spain under the

proposal of the Ministers of Environment andFinances launched the “Green PublicProcurement Plan” recently.

It is based, among other regulations, on theSpanish Strategy for Climate Change and CleanEnergy and the draft Integrated National WasteProgram. This plan will be applied by the SpanishGeneral Administration. The main measuresrelating to wood and paper mentioned in this planare:

Environmental criteria for building upkeep:

o Use of materials easily recyclable or reusable at the end of their lifecycle.

Paper and publications:

o Sustainability criteria based on theEuropean Eco Label for Paper.

o Sustainability criteria in design or edition of publications before the end of 2010.

o Reduction of paper publications in

Public Administrations of 40% before2015, giving way to electronic formats.

o Percentage of 50% of recycled paper inpublications before 2010 and 90%before 2015.

o Training sessions for purchaseresponsible civil servants.

Furniture:

o Virgin wood will not come from illegallogging, genetically modified trees or

high environmental value species.o The origin of wood needs to be

documented by a certificate of sustainable forest management whichis an evaluation criterion for officefurniture.

Contact: Ana Noriega

Email: [email protected]

UNITED KINGDOM

BRE EcoHomesupgrades PEFC to toptier

The new national standard for the sustainabledesign and construction of new homes The Code

for Sustainable Homes , was launched in April2007 and includes PEFC in its top tier. Thisreplaced BRE EcoHomes for new builds inEngland and Wales, but BRE EcoHomescontinues to be used for refurbished housing inEngland and for new builds inScotland andWales.

The BRE EcoHomes dates from April 2006 andoriginally awarded PEFC certified timber one lesspoint than FSC. However BRE has now issued anew guideline to its assessors which awardsPEFC the same number of points in theResponsible Sourcing of Materials section asFSC.

The change inthe pointsawarded for

using PEFC-certifiedtimber wasannounced ina July 2007PROCESSNOTE fromBRE:

“Further to the CPET (Centre Point of Excellence

in Timber) review earlier this year PEFC timber

now qualifies as Tier 1 in the BREEAM and EcoHomes schemes. This change will take effect

from the date of this process note. This change

will be noted in an addendum and placed on the

extranet shortly. As a result there is currently no

scheme that falls within Tier 2 and all other

schemes remain in the same tier as before.”




No 41 – March 2008

PEFC and LEAFIn January, PEFC UK exhibited at LEAF (LeadingEuropean Architects Forum) London - aninternational conference and exhibition for thoseinvolved with the architectural environment;architects, planners, contractors, developers and

interior designers.

PEFC UK exhibited at this event with theobjective of encouraging architects to specifycertified timber and explain the key factorsdriving demand for certified timber in the UK.

As well as stressing the importance of specifyinglegal and sustainable timber, PEFC was able toensure that architects knew that they had achoice of certification schemes with which toengage.

Contact: Hilary KhawamE-mail: [email protected]

USAGlobal companiesawarded PEFC Chain ofCustody

An increasing number of large and influentialcompanies have achieved PEFC Annex 4certification in the United States. These include:

Glatfelter, a global manufacturer of specialtypapers and engineered products; Quebecor World, one of North America’s largest printerscertified all 54 of its North American printinglocations; Central National-Gottesman Inc, aprivately owned marketer of pulp and paper; andXerox Corporation, one of the world’s world'sleading document management, technology andservices enterprise, received Chain of Custodycertification for distribution centers across 17countries.

SFI increases market awareness

2007 was a big year for marketing the SFI andPEFC standards in North America. SFI has beenparticipating in many national and internationaltrade shows, conferences, and meetings. SFIhas also been responding quickly to any

misrepresentation of the PEFC-endorsed SFIstandard in the media. This is reflected in theincrease in PEFC Annex 4 certificates from noneat the beginning of 2006 to 27 certificates by mid-February 2008.

Contact: Rachel DierolfE-mail: [email protected]

PEFC ASIA PROMOTIONS OFFICE

PEFC at the Seminarfor Tackling IllegalLogging

The 2nd International Seminar for Tackling IllegalLogging recently attracted over 200 people in

Yokohama, Japan. The organizer, the JapanFederation of Wood Industry Associations andGoho Wood (Council for Promotion of Countermeasures against Illegal Logging), aimedto explain the Japanese Public ProcurementPolicy to the principal exporters/suppliers and themeasures taken by the exporters/suppliers for meeting the requirement set by the JapanesePublic Procurement Policy. PEFC AsiaPromotions Office participated as an exhibitor together with other Japanese and oversea

organisations. Most of the speakers endorsedforest certificationincluding PEFC as agood means of assurance of bothlegality andsustainability of forest-based products.

Contact: Haruyoshi Takeuchi

E-mail: [email protected]

You can receive this Newsletter, furtherupdates and current news by subscribing to

the PEFC mailing list at www.pefc.org.

Further detailed information and news on PEFCmember systems can be obtained directly from their

websites whose links are available from the PEFCwebsite: www.pefc.org.





pefc newsletter 41 march 2008

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