PEFC seeks public's view on Swiss Q-label certification system

The PEFC Council's international consultation on the Swiss Q-label forest certification system started today. All interested organisations and individuals are invited to send comments on the system to FORM International, who are assessing the Swiss system against the PEFC benchmark requirements, by 2 September 2007. The consultation and assessment are part of the extensive 5-year revision and continuous improvement process, which is undertaken for all PEFC endorsed certification systems.

The Swiss Q-label system's requirements and the assessor's contact details are available at the PEFC Council website at www.pefc.org > Members & Schemes. The comments received will be incorporated in the assessor's detailed report, which will be made public and serve as the basis for or against a continued endorsement of the Swiss system by the PEFC Council.

For more information contact:
Consultants
FORM International
Mr Paul H.V. Hol
Bevrijdingsweg 3
NL-8051 EN 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
PEFC Switzeralnd
Mr Urs Amstutz
c/o Waldwirtschaft Verband Schweiz
Rosenweg 14
CH-4501 Solothurn
Switzerland
Tel: +41 32 625 8800
Fax: +41 32 625 8899
E-mail: info@wvs.ch

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

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 about 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.

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.