Swiss and Belgium Forest Certification Scheme Public Consultation

Two national independent forest certification schemes have been submitted to the Pan European Forest Certification Council (PEFC) for assessment against its strict requirements for credible forest certification schemes. Both schemes have been developed using as their basis the elements prescribed by the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe to promote sustainable forest management.

Mr Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC Council said "Everyone who so wishes is invited to participate in the public consultation on both schemes, which can be viewed on the PEFC Website, www.pefc.org . Comments should be sent directly by the 16th July to the independent consultants who have been appointed to assess the schemes against the requirements of the PEFC Council".

Both schemes wish to join the five other schemes already endorsed by PEFC which currently account for over 36 Million hectares of forests, making PEFC the world?s largest umbrella for forest certification schemes.

Mr Gunneberg added "The Swiss Q label Holz and Belgian Forest Certification schemes hope to account for over 600 thousand hectares of certified forests within the next two years. This will contribute to the area of forests from which consumers of wood can buy timber in the knowledge that they are promoting sustainable forest management. Timber from these forests can have access to a logo through an independently certified chain of custody. This logo provides customers and the general public with the assurance that they are promoting sustainable forest management."

NB! The public consultation period for the Swiss scheme has been extended to the 1st of August 2001 (by decision on 3rd of July)

Contacts:
For more information about PEFC please contact:

PEFC Council
Mr Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General: Tel +352 26 25 90 59

For more information about the two schemes please contact:

Belgium

Switzerland