Finland seeks PEFC endorsement for a record fourth time: public consultation open
Stakeholders globally are invited to provide feedback on its compliance with PEFC International's Sustainability Benchmarks by 2 February 2015.
Finland seeks PEFC endorsement for a record fourth time: public consultation open
2 December 2014 PEFC system news
The Finnish Forest Certification Scheme has become the first ever system to seek PEFC endorsement for the fourth time. Stakeholders globally are invited to provide feedback on its compliance with PEFC International's Sustainability Benchmarks by 2 February 2015.
“We are heartened and encouraged by the continuing strong commitment of local stakeholders in Finland, and we applaud everyone for their efforts in revising their national forest certification standard for a record third time,” said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International. “We truly appreciate the expertise, knowledge and time that these local stakeholders are investing in advancing forest certification and sustainable forest management.”
PEFC is now seeking comments and feedback from all interested parties to ensure the system’s full compliance with PEFC's Sustainability Benchmark during a 60-day global public consultation
Finland was one of the first countries to achieve endorsement of its national forest certification system back in 2000, followed by two successful re-endorsements of the system in 2005 and 2010. Fourteen years later, over 20 million hectares of Finnish forests are PEFC-certified, making up almost 90% of the country’s forests – and as one of the most heavily forested countries in the world, only Canada and the US have more PEFC-certified hectares.
All comments received during the global public consultation will provide valuable information for the third-party assessor in determining whether the Finnish Forest Certification Scheme is in compliance with international requirements.
All stakeholders are invited to use PEFC's Online Consultation Tool to provide comments on the Finnish Forest Certification Scheme by 2 February 2015.