PEFC International announced last week that the revised French national forest certification system has successfully achieved re-endorsement by the PEFC General Assembly. The endorsement is valid until 2017.

The French standard was revised over a period of 18 month in an extensive, consensus-driven process with participation of actors from all parts of society. "More than 52.000 forest owners in France are certified to PEFC and take pride in their sustainable forest management practices," said Marc-Antoine de Sèze, President of PEFC France. "The unique experiences of these forest owners were very beneficial in the revision process and, combined with the comprehensive input by other participants from non-profit and business organizations, the science community, labour unions, have led to further improvements to the standard."

Changes to the 2012-2017 include the harmonization of national sustainable forest management criteria for forest owners, a further strengthening of audits for system evaluation both for forest owners and operators, and increased technical support at both national and local levels. Globally, the new French standard enables increased production while better preserving forest resources.

Following the approval of the revised standard at national level, an independent assessment verified the compliance of the French system with PEFC International's Sustainability Benchmarks. The endorsement process, which is unique in the world of forest certification, also included a global public consultation and a Panel of Expert review.

"PEFC is the certification system of choice in France and recognized by companies and consumers alike for our work in promoting sustainable forest management" said Mr de Sèze. "However, we would not be successful if it was not for forest owners their forests in sustainably, in line with PEFC requirements. We certainly appreciate their enthusiasm, engagement and continuous commitment to going the extra mile and demonstrating responsibility through PEFC certification."

PEFC is the world's largest forest certification system and the certification system of choice for small- and family forest owners. About 5 million hectares of forests and 2600 companies in France are PEFC-certified.

Further Information

• PEFC France