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| The PEFC-Council, a framework for the mutual recognition of national forest certification schemes, today announced the start of an official public Internet consultation period on the Italian Forest Certification Scheme. The scheme is being examined by independent consultants appointed to assess its conformity with the PEFC Council?s requirements. It has been developed to help promote sustainable forest management in Italy. It was also designed to take account of the small-scale forest ownership patterns in Italy where 1.2 million people own and manage an average of 7.50 ha each.
Mr Henri Plauche-Gillon, Chairman of the PEFC-Council said "I encourage all interested parties to review the scheme on the Internet (www.pefc.org) and send any comments they have directly to independent consultants".
A recent survey of forest owner representatives has indicated that up to 500 000 hectares may be certified according to the Italian Forest Certification scheme in the next couple of years.
"This represents a significant area of forests " said Mr Plauche Gillon, "and if the scheme is endorsed, then many products made from wood from these forests will have access to the PEFC logo. Customers will be supporting and promoting sustainable forest management by buying products carrying this logo."
Mr. Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of the PEFC Council remarked, "PEFC believes that everyone's view should be taken into consideration and so the independent consultants have been asked to take into account comments received from this public consultation process. Their final report will then form the basis of the decision by all members of the PEFC Council and through them their stakeholders in 26 countries as to whether to accept the scheme or not."
Mr Gunneberg added "The PEFC scheme has been growing steadily since its launch in 1999. This is the fourteenth national scheme to be assessed and a further application from Chile is in the pipeline. The assessment is an important element in the transparency and inclusive nature of PEFC and I therefore urge everyone to take the opportunity to participate. Please review the scheme and send your comments by the 20th of December 2003 directly to the consultants whose details are also on our website."
ENDS
For more information contact:
Consultants
INDUFOR OY
Dr Markku Simula
Toolonkatu 15 E
FIN-00100 Helsinki
Finland
Tel: + 358 9 684 0110
E-mail: Indufor@indufor.fi
Http://www.indufor.oy
Applicant
PEFC-ITALY
Mr Brunori
Via del Pruno 1
Ponte San Giovanni
I-06087 Perugia
Tel +39 075 39 7092
E-mail: info@pefc.it
Http://www.pefc.it
PEFC Council
SECRETARY GENERAL
Mr Gunneberg
17, rue des Girondins
2eme etage
L-1626 Luxenbourg
Tel +352 26 25 90 59
E-mail: pefc@pt.lu
Http://www.pefc.org
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