Results of CPET’s 2010 review of forest certification schemes
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Compliance with the UK government's timber procurement policy is mainly demonstrated by certification under either the FSC or PEFC schemes and the schemes are very important for the implementation of the policy.
The 2010 review covered a full review of the schemes: Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and did not, as previous reviews, include a full review of other schemes, as they are now endorsed by PEFC. The results of the 2010 review conclude that both FSC and PEFC continue to deliver evidence of sustainability in compliance with the UK Government’s timber procurement policy.
To provide the greatest technical rigour and independence, the assessment of schemes was, as in 2008, undertaken by an independent technical panel using the March 2008 version of Category A Review Methodology which focuses on the scheme requirements as set out in publicly available documentation, but does not include investigation of outcomes on the ground.
Both schemes have made improvements since the last assessment in 2008, passing the new social criteria and ensuring that the ‘conversion’ and ‘national implementation’ criteria were met.
As per recommendation from the Reference Board, the UK Government has asked CPET to supplement the desk reviews with some field visits to assess the compliance on the ground. CPET will conduct observer visits to both FSC and PEFC in 2011 to witness accreditation activities. Through these visits following a chain of custody and forest management accreditation, it is envisaged that CPET will gain an even greater understanding of schemes' operations and implementation, and therefore will be better placed to further contribute to the development of the schemes.
CPET would like to provide a note for clarification on the Malaysian scheme and remind buyers and suppliers that as a PEFC-endorsed scheme, MTCS is accepted as ensuring legality and sustainability in compliance with the UK government’s timber procurement policy. However, only PEFC certified timber should be accepted. CPET should be consulted for non-PEFC certified MTCS timber as it may still only ensure legality.
Please refer to the following documents for further information:
Announcement of results of review of schemes (21 January 2011)
2010 Review of forest certification schemes: Final report (December 2010)
Appendix 1a Review of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (December 2010)
Stakeholders' comments and responses related to FSC (2010)
Stakeholders' comments and responses related to PEFC (2010)
Methodology for reviews of timber certification schemes (March 2008)
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