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| 2005/12/15
| Indigenous people and PEFC forest certification
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| PEFC Council: Although a fast growing number of customers are aware of the need and the advantages of buying timber from certified forests, the question repeatedly arises as to whether forest certification systems adequately recognize the interests of indigenous forest people, like the Indians in the Amazon, the tribal communities in Africa or Sami people in the Arctic Circle. To answer this question, the PEFC Council has published a new Position Paper explaining how the livelihoods of tribal and indigenous people, their local communities and their traditional rights are taken into account through PEFC certification.
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| 2005/12/09
| Germany successfully gains PEFC re-endorsement
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| PEFC Council: Germany?s national PEFC forest certification system has successfully achieved re-endorsement by the PEFC Council for another 5 years until 2010. The system was fully revised in an extensive and transparent process, during which the latest scientific knowledge, practical experience and new requirements were incorporated.
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| 2005/12/08
| PEFC certified timber availability increases significantly - USA and Canada SFI system achieves PEFC endorsement
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| PEFC Council: The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has gained international recognition by the PEFC Council, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes. An independent assessment showed that SFI complies with the international PEFC requirements for national forest certification systems. PEFC endorsed systems around the globe, including SFI, now account for more than 175 million hectares, an area larger than the combined forest area of all 25 member countries of the European Union.
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| 2005/11/18
| PEFC suspends endorsement of Swiss Q-label
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PEFC Council: The PEFC Council has suspended the Swiss Q-Label Wood Certification Scheme for non-compliance with three PEFC requirements. These are compliance with the international PEFC chain of custody rules; the provision of a publicly available certification report summary of the certification results and information from external parties being used as evidence in the forest certification process. The Swiss Q-Label Certification scheme?s suspension will be lifted once sufficient evidence of compliance on all three issues has been presented to and approved by the PEFC Council Board of Directors.
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| 2005/10/28
| PEFC calls for harmonisation of Government Timber Procurement Policies
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| PEFC Council: At its General Assembly, the Chairman Mr Henri Plauche-Gillon of the PEFC Council, the world mutual recognition umbrella for forest certification systems, called on governments developing procurement policies to harmonise them, in order to avoid artificial trade barriers.
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| 2005/10/28
| Good news for Brazilian forests
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| PEFC Council: Brazil?s national certification system for sustainable forest management, CERFLOR, has gained international endorsement through the PEFC Council, the global assessment organisation for forest certification systems. Brazilian tropical timber is now available with independent proof that it comes from sustainable forest management preserving the ecological, social and economical functions of forests. By choosing PEFC certified products, buyers of Brazilian timber and paper can support the responsible sourcing of the products with their purchase and thus help to protect the Brazilian tropical forests.
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| 2005/10/25
| PEFC invites public to comment Norwegian Living Forests Standards
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| PEFC Council: Five years since its first endorsement by the PEFC Council, the Norwegian Living Forest Standards and Certification Scheme has applied for PEFC re-endorsement. The PEFC Council has appointed the independent external consultant SAVCOR INDUFOR OY to assess the Norwegian system against the international PEFC requirements for credible forest certification schemes. Part of the assessment is a 60-days public consultation period, starting today, during which all interested parties and individuals are invited to comment on the Norwegian certification system.
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| 2005/08/15
| Luxembourg and Slovak Republic gain PEFC endorsement
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| PEFC Council: The PEFC Council today announced the international endorsement of the forest certification systems from Luxembourg and the Slovak Republic. Timber and wood-based products from PEFC certified forests in the two countries will now be accepted in the PEFC system and may bear the PEFC logo, as evidence of being sourced from sustainable and well-managed forests. So far 20 national certification systems on four continents around the world have successfully gained PEFC endorsement and PEFC expects a further increase in the coming months.
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| 2005/08/11
| UK Government rates all PEFC certified timber as ?legal and sustainable?
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| PEFC Council: Today, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that it has officially rated PEFC certified timber products as both legal and sustainable. Timber from PEFC endorsed national forest certification schemes is now eligible for all contracts under the UK Public Timber Procurement Policy and will receive preferred status in UK public tendering processes.
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| 2005/07/23
| Revised Austrian PEFC system presented for international consultation
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| PEFC Council: The Austrian PEFC certification system has been revised and submitted to the PEFC Council for re-endorsement. This revision and assessment for re-endorsement is part of PEFC?s safeguard mechanisms for credible forest certification systems, to continuously incorporate latest scientific knowledge and practical experience into national PEFC endorsed standards. To ensure transparency and allow multi-stakeholder participation in all steps of the endorsement process, the full documentation of the Austrian system is made publicly available at the PEFC Council website for comments.
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| 2005/07/22
| SFI independently being assessed for mutual recognition through PEFC
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| PEFC Council: One of the world?s largest forest certification systems, the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, SFI, from the USA, with more than 50 million hectares certified in the US and Canada, is seeking international endorsement by the PEFC Council. International Trade Strategies - ITS Global has been appointed by the PEFC Council as an external consultant to independently assess the system against the PEFC requirements. Part of the assessment procedure is a 60 day global public consultation period, in which all interested parties and individuals are invited to comment on the SFI system.
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| 2005/07/15
| Germany?s successful certification for small-scale forest owners seeks PEFC re-endorsement
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| PEFC Council: In the 5 years since its establishment PEFC certification in Germany has been a complete success story. Two thirds of all German forests have been certified to the German PEFC standard and it has also proven to be ideally adapted to the needs of small-scale forest owners. Following a comprehensive review, the system has been submitted to the PEFC Council for re-endorsement until 2010 and is now in the public consultation period.
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| 2005/06/22
| PEFC creates option for recycled raw material
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| PEFC Council: The PEFC Council members have decided to make available a new option for the inclusion of recycled raw material in the PEFC system. The new option allows companies to communicate the content of recycled material in their products through a new combined label containing the PEFC logo and the Mobius Loop. A new category for ?PEFC recycled raw material?, separate from ?PEFC certified material?, was established. The accompanying claim for the new label is: ?Promoting sustainable forest management and recycling ? For more info: www.pefc.org?.
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| 2005/04/26
| Sweden submits new PEFC system for 2005-2010
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| PEFC Council: A new Swedish PEFC forest certification system for 2005 ? 2010 has been submitted to the PEFC Council for endorsement. The scheme, replacing the previous one, was revised in a twelve-month long process from January to December 2004 incorporating the latest scientific knowledge and practical experience from the field in the standard. In particular the recommended changes of the so-called ?Stockdove? process, the bridging document for the Swedish PEFC and FSC standards, have been included.
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| 2005/04/12
| PEFC demonstrates customer commitment
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| PEFC Council: The PEFC Council member countries now have approved two new requirements to the PEFC Council regulations in an extraordinary General Assembly vote. As of today the PEFC Council requires making a summary of certification audit reports publicly available, and having a public consultation, for each individual forest certification. The PEFC Council has also submitted the new PEFC documentation to the British Government for re-assessment against Her Majesty?s Government?s (HMG) requirements for sustainable and legal timber.
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| 2005/04/02
| Eco-friendly timber from Brazilian forests ? one step closer
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| PEFC Council: A national forest certification system for all of Brazil?s forests, the Brazilian certification standard CERFLOR has been developed with the aim to give consumers an assurance that the tropical timber they are buying comes from sustainable sources. Administered by INMETRO, the Brazilian National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality, the certification system has now applied for assessment and international recognition through the global Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes, the PEFC Council.
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| 2005/03/29
| PEFC tops 100 million hectares worldwide
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| PEFC Council: Canada?s National Sustainable Forest Management Program has gained endorsement by the PEFC Council. The Program, developed by the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), is the 18th national system to attain this international verification for credible forest certification schemes. PEFC endorsed programs around the globe, including Canada, now account for more than 100 million hectares of forests, making PEFC the first forest certification system ever to reach this significant milestone.
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| 2005/03/22
| PEFC successfully implements continuous improvement - Finnish certification system revised and endorsed
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| PEFC Council: The revised Finnish Forest Certification System FFCS has been endorsed by the PEFC Council, the international platform for the mutual recognition of forest certification schemes. This recognition is the first ever renewed PEFC endorsement of a forest certification system globally. It followed a comprehensive multi-stakeholder revision process, in which newest scientific research and practical experience from the field were incorporated in the revised standard.
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| 2005/03/14
| Slovenia becomes 30th member of PEFC
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| PEFC Council: Slovenia is the newest and now 30th member country in PEFC Council, the international framework for the assessment and endorsement of credible forest certification systems. The PEFC Council members unanimously approved the application of the Slovenian Institute for Forest Certification, the official representative of the Slovenian standard.
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| 2005/03/07
| New Europe going for PEFC certification - Estonian and Slovak Republic systems presented to public
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| PEFC Council: PEFC has proven to be the preferred choice for two more national forest certification schemes, the systems from Estonia and the Slovak Republic. The two standards have entered the stringent PEFC endorsement process and are available at the PEFC website for public viewing and comments.
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