CertforChile and SFI achieve PEFC re-endorsement

18 August 2016 PEFC system news

CertforChile and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), our National members in Chile and North America, have both successfully achieved the re-endorsement of their national forest certification systems.

This endorsement not only confirms that they continue to meet our globally recognized Sustainability Benchmarks, but also ensures that certified forest owners and companies in these countries continue to benefit from the global acceptance of PEFC.

The first endorsement of the Chilean system back in 2004 was particularly significant as, alongside Australia, it became the first non-European country to be recognized by PEFC. Since then, almost two million hectares of forest have been certified in the country.

The SFI program became a PEFC National member in 2001, with the SFI Forest Management Standard achieving PEFC endorsement for the first time in 2005. The SFI program has now grown to cover more than 100 million hectares of forest area in both the United States and Canada – nearly 40% of all PEFC-recognized certified forest worldwide.

“These re-endorsements show both the commitment of our members and underlines PEFC's leadership in the continuous improvement of forest certification," said Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International.

“We appreciate their continued commitment, as well as the contributions of all the stakeholders who have participated in the standards revision and assessment processes.”

PEFC International is the only global forest certification system to limit endorsements of national systems to five years, requiring standards revisions before a system can re-apply for endorsement. Endorsement is only granted after a comprehensive, third-party assessment of compliance with PEFC’s Sustainability Benchmarks.

Revisions are required to ensure that latest scientific research, practical experiences and best practices from the field, but also evolving values, expectations, and aspirations of society towards sustainable forest management, are systematically incorporated in these national systems, and then implemented at national, regional and local level.