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| The Dutch Ministry for Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) yesterday announced the results of its assessment of forest certification systems for the forthcoming Dutch sustainable timber procurement policy. PEFC Finland, PEFC Germany and FSC are accepted, while the assessment of PEFC International has not yet been concluded.
"We welcome the positive assessment of PEFC Finland, PEFC Germany and FSC", said Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification scheme (PEFC). "This ensures that Dutch public authorities can procure about 30 percent of their needs for timber and wood products from sustainably managed forests."
Forest degradation and deforestation are responsible for almost 20 percent of global carbon emissions. Therefore, better forest management plays a key role in addressing the climate change challenge.
"Policies that promote responsible forest management are essential for reducing carbon emissions", explained Mr. Gunneberg. "PEFC International therefore welcomes the move by the Netherlands towards sustainable procurement."
At the same time, he expressed PEFC's commitment to collaborate with the Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committee's (TPAC), which assesses the quality of certification systems on behalf of VROM, to finalize the assessment of PEFC International in a timely manner.
"The objective of the Netherlands is to procure 100 percent of its timber from sustainable sources by 2010 at the very latest", emphasised Prof. Helias Udo de Haes, Chairman of TPAC and former president of the Leiden University Institute of Environmental Sciences. "This can be best achieved when PEFC International is recommended for Dutch public procurement", added Mr. Gunneberg.
Preliminary results of the assessment of PEFC International indicate the need to further clarify some of the organisation's benchmark requirements. "TPAC's initial feedback is greatly appreciated and forms an important input into the revision of our technical documentation. This revision is already underway and should be completed within a year once the global stakeholder consultations are concluded", said Mr. Gunneberg. "We will also work with European governments to ensure that TPAC's requirements for sustainable forest management are considered in the MCPFE process."
MCPFE, the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) is a multi-stakeholder process to which all European governments have signed up, and which forms the basis for PEFC's benchmark requirements.
"We anticipate that PEFC will receive a positive assessment once it has been concluded", stressed Mr. Gunneberg. "This is currently scheduled for November 2009 to ensure that modifications to our benchmark requirements are fully reflected."
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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.
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