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| ?Having established the world?s largest resource and availability of certified wood, PEFC will focus on market acceptance of certified products?, said Mr Mike Clark, the newly elected Chairman of the PEFC Council. National delegations of 31 member countries from six continents, representatives of environmental organisations, trade unions, international organizations and invited guests met for the PEFC Council?s 10th General Assembly at the World Forestry Centre in Portand, Oregon, USA, on 26 to 28 October 2006.
Elections
Mr Henri Plauche Gillon, Founding Chairman of the PEFC Council, who had headed the organisation for more than seven years, handing over to Mr Clark said: "PEFC is rapidly approaching the mark of 200 million hectares of certified forests globally, with more than 18,000 PEFC logo users and more than 2,800 certified enterprises. I end my chairmanship with the confidence that the world system for forest certification, which helps to protect forests around the globe, is ready to address the future challenges of the market place."
The PEFC delegates elected Mr Antti Sahi as new Vice Chairman and Mr Bj?rn Andr?n, Mr Hans Drielsma, Mr Andrey Frolov, Mr S?bastien Genest, Mr Felix Montecuccoli and Mr Paul Wooding as new Directors to the Board. The outgoing Board members, First Vice Chairman Hannu Valtanen, Founding Chairman Henri Plauche Gillon, Mr Josef Barton, Marian Freiherr von Gravenreuth and Mr Ulf ?sterblom were cordially thanked by the PEFC members for their work and achievements.
Chairman's report
In the last 12 months PEFC certified area has increased by almost 65 million hectares, a growth of more than 50%. The number of businesses with a PEFC Chain of Custody certificate has increase by more than 20%. More than two thirds of all certified forests around the world are certified to PEFC endorsed systems and PEFC is being chosen by a fast growing number of governmental and private procurement policies.
Membership in the PEFC Council
The European Tissue Symposium ETS, representing the majority of the tissue production throughout the EU, was welcomed as the 11th Extraordinary Member of the PEFC Council. The delegates voted in favour of transferring the current membership of Russia to a new Russian umbrella organisation, comprising the two national forest certification initiatives in Russia.
New PEFC documentation
Two new documents, for Non-Wood Forest Products and for the Avoidance of timber from controversial sources, were adopted by the members and have become new elements in PEFC's international Chain of Custody standard. The new appendices are available at www.pefc.org > Documentation > Technical Document > Annex 4.
To allow future assessments of forest certification systems in Asia and in countries covered by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) process, the delegates adopted the ITTO documentation to be used as a benchmark for assessment of forest management standards in tropical countries.
The amended PEFC Council documentation will shortly be available at the PEFC Council website.
Future General Assemblies
The 2006 General Assembly in Portland was hosted by the Sustainable Forestry Board, the US American member organisation in the PEFC Council. Details of the event will be covered in the upcoming PEFC Council Newsletter Special Issue. The next General Assembly will be hosted by PEFC Germany in Munich from 4 to 6 October 2007. The PEFC Council General Assemblies in 2008 and 2009 have been scheduled to take place in Australia and Luxembourg respectively.
ENDS
For more information please contact:
Mr Oliver Scholz, Communications Manager PEFC Council
Tel. +352 26 25 90 59
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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 forests. Sustainably managed forests 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 191 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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