Public consultation prior to decision on PEFC Latvian re-endorsement

The Latvian Forest Certification Scheme has been submitted to the PEFC Council for re-endorsement. Its full documentation is available at the PEFC Council website www.pefc.org for public consultation and all interested individuals and organisations are invited to comment on the scheme by 19 March 2008.

"The public consultation is part of the extensive 5-year revision and continuous process, which is undertaken for all PEFC endorsed certification systems", said Mr Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of the PEFC Council. "This gives all interested and affected organisations as well as individuals the opportunity to voice their views and contribute to the process. The comments received will be incorporated in the independent assessor's report, which will be made publicly available and forms the basis for the decision for or against the re-endorsement of any scheme by the PEFC."
ENDS

Assessor
INDUFOR OY
Ms Hanna Nikinmaa
Toolonkatu 11 A
FIN-00100 Helsinki
Finland
Tel +358 9 6840 1121
Fax. +358 9 135 2552
Email: indufor@indufor.com
http://www.indufor.com

Applicant
PEFC Latvia Council
Dr. Skaidrite Albertina
Riga Street 113
Salaspils
LV 2169
Latvia
Tel. +371 7949647
Fax +371 7949647
Email: ljc@parks.lv

PEFC Council
Mr Ben Gunneberg
17, rue des Girondins
L-1626 Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Tel +352 26 25 90 59
Fax +352 26 25 92 58
Email:info@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 more than 198 million hectares of certified forests. This is an area which is larger than the combined forest area of all 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.