Public consultation prior to decision on PEFC Spain re-endorsement

The PEFC Council’s international consultation of the revised Spanish Forest Certification Scheme started today. All interested organisations and individuals are invited to send their comments until the 13 May 2008 to FORM International, who are assessing the revised Spanish Forest Certification Scheme. The full documentation of the Spanish Forest Certification Scheme is available at the PEFC Council website > Members & Schemes.

"This is the 13th application for re-endorsement of a national forest certification scheme. The comments received during the public consultation period will become an important part of the assessor's report, which serves as the basis for or against the re-endorsement of the scheme" said Mr Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of the PEFC Council.
Over one million hectares of Spanish forests are PEFC certified since the national scheme has been endorsed five years ago.

For more information contact:
ASSESSOR
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
Email: info@forminternational.nl
www.forminternational.nl

APPLICANT
PEFC Espana
Mrs Ana Belen Noriega
C/ Viriato, 2 - 1º P6
28010 Madrid
Tel.: + 34 91 591 00 88
Fax: + 34 91 591 00 87
E-mail: pefc@pefc.es
www.pefc.es

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
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 200 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.