PEFC holds public consultation on American Tree Farm System

One of the world's oldest initiatives for certifying sustainable forestry, the American Tree Farm System ATFS, is undergoing its assessment for international PEFC endorsement. ITS Global has been appointed by the PEFC Council as the independent assssor to assess the system against the PEFC benchmark requirements. Part of the assessment is a 60-day public consultation period for all interested stakeholders and the general public.

"The public consultation starts today and we invite everyone to send comments by 9 August 2007 directly to the assessor, whose contact details together with ATFS' full documentation are available at our website", said Mr Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of the PEFC Council. "The independent assessment prior to any PEFC endorsement ensures that a consistently high and stringent quality and performance level is applied by all PEFC endorsed certification systems globally", Mr Gunneberg added. The comments received will become an important part of the assessor's report, which will serve as the basis for or against the endorsement of the standard. The American Tree Farm System documentation can be reviewed under www.pefc.org > Members&Schemes > United States > American Tree Farm System.

For more information contact:
Consultants
International Trade Strategies Pty Ltd - ITS Global
Mr Alan Oxley
Level 2, 60 Collins Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
Tel. +61 3 9654 8309
Fax. +61 3 9654 4922
Email: aroxley@attglobal.net

Applicant
American Tree Farm System ATFS
Mr Bob Simpson
c/o American Forest Foundation
1111 Nineteenth Street, NW Suite 780
Washington, D.C. 20036
USA
Tel. +1 202 463 2462
Fax +1 202 463 2461
Email: info@treefarmsystem.org
http://www.treefarmsystem.org

PEFC Council
Mr Oliver Scholz
17, rue des Girondins
L-1626 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Tel +352 26 25 90 59
Fax +352 26 25 92 58
Email:comms@pefc.org
http://www.pefc.org

Editor Notes

American Tree Farm System ATFS
Since 1941, ATFS has educated and recognized the commitment of private forest owners in the United States. Currently, ATFS has 23 million acres of privately owned forestland and 87,000 family forest owners who are committed to excellence in forest stewardship, in 46 states in the US. Certification of Tree Farms through the American Tree Farm System (ATFS), under the oversight of the American Forest Foundation (AFF), is the oldest and largest voluntary, third party verification process in the United States.

PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes)
PEFC is a framework for the assessment and endorsement of national forest certification systems 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 systems from all over the world, delivering hundreds of millions of tonnes of wood to the processing industry and then onto the market place from currently 196 million hectares of certified forests. This is an area which is larger than the combined forest area of the European Union member states. PEFC has strong grass roots support from many stakeholders including the forestry sector, governments, trade associations, trade unions and non-governmental organisations.

Sustainable Forest Management
Sustainable Forest Management is defined as "the stewardship and use of forests and forest lands in a way and at a rate that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to fulfil now and in the future, relevant ecological, economic and social functions at local, national and global levels, and that does not cause damage to other eco-systems". Sustainably managed forests are those whose management implements performance standards based on internationally agreed environmental, social and economic requirements.

Forest Certification
Forest certification is a process which provides an assurance to purchasers of wood and paper products that the wood used in the products comes from sustainably managed forest. It involves the certification of forests (Sustainable Forest Management certification) and the certification of the wood flow via processing, manufacturing and trading enterprises (Chain of Custody certification) to the final consumer.