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| 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.
"The new standard allows group certification of individual forest owners or direct certification of forest companies and also makes PEFC certification available to forest contractors. It is equally suitable for large forest companies and for small private forest owners", said Mr Folke Stenstr?m, Secretary General of the Swedish PEFC.
During the last five years the Swedish PEFC certification system has continually grown and as a result today is applied on 6.5 million hectares of Swedish forests. Currently there are more than 100 companies participating in PEFC Chain of Custody certification in the timber and timber-processing sector, among them a number of large and well-know Swedish forest enterprises.
"The application for PEFC endorsement for a second five-year term will follow the same strict assessment procedures that certification systems, seeking first time endorsement, currently have to fulfil", explained Mr Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of the PEFC Council. "Following a tendering process, the international forestry consultancy, FORM International, has now been appointed to assess the scheme. All interested individuals or organizations are invited and encouraged to view the new Swedish scheme on our website www.pefc.org and send comments directly to the appointed consultants by 25 June 2005."
For more information contact:
Consultants
FORM International
Mr Paul H.V. Hol
Ridderstraat 2
8051 EH Hattem
The NETHERLANDS
Tel + 31 38 444 89 90
Fax + 31 38 444 89 91
E-mail: info@forminternational.nl
http://www.forminternational.nl
Applicant
Svenska PEFC ek
Mr Folke Stenstr?m / Mr ?ke Barklund
c/o LRF Skogs?garna
Klara ?stra Kyrkogata 12
10533 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel +46 26 65 19 30
Fax +46 26 65 19 30
Email: svenskapefc@pefc.se
http://www.pefc.se
PEFC Council
Secretary General
Mr Ben Gunneberg
17, rue des Girondins
L-1626 Luxembourg
Tel +352 26 25 90 59
Fax +352 26 25 92 58
Email: pefc@pt.lu
http://www.pefc.org
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Editor Notes
Forest Certification
Forest certification is a process which provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that the wood used in the products comes from sustainably managed forest. Sustainably managed forest are those whose management implements performance standards based on internationally agreed environmental, social and economical requirements.
PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes)
PEFC is a framework for the mutual recognition of credible national or regional forest certification schemes that have been developed based on internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management. Since its launch in 1999, PEFC has become the largest forest certification umbrella organisation covering national schemes from all over the world, delivering hundreds of millions of tonnes of wood to the processing industry and then onto the market place from over 100 million hectares of certified forests. PEFC has strong grass roots support from many stakeholders including the forestry sector, governments, trade associations, trade unions and non-governmental organisations.
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