Great day for forest certification worldwide - PEFC endorses certification systems in three continents

29 October 2004 PEFC system news

Today the PEFC Council International announced the endorsement of the national forest certification systems from Australia, Chile and Italy.

The endorsement of the first two non-European national schemes reinforces the increasing global nature of the PEFC Council. In all more than 55 million hectares of forests have now been certified by PEFC endorsed certification systems worldwide.

The endorsement followed a rigorous and lengthy assessment process of several months that included a detailed review of the schemes through independent consultants. Stakeholder groups and the general public were given the opportunity to comment on the certification schemes in a public consultation period.

During a ceremony at the PEFC's General Assembly held in Santiago, Chile, representatives of the three certification systems AFS, CertforChile and PEFC Italy were presented with their official endorsement certificates by Henri Plauche-Gillon, President of PEFC Council.

Following the new PEFC Council regulations, the assessment reports of the independent consultants for the newly endorsed schemes are made public on the PEFC website.

All schemes (from left to right): Pierluigi Ferrari, Antonio Brunori, Hans Drielsma, Geoff Gorrie, Gisella Barrera, Aldo Cerda, Eduardo Morales.