China celebrates endorsement of its national system at International Symposium

3 November 2014 News

Hosted by the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), in collaboration with PEFC International, the PEFC China Initiative and Asia Pulp and Paper, the event brought together over 100 representatives to celebrate the launch of the Chinese National Standard for Sustainable Forest Management.

With so many participants coming from the world of sustainable forest management, including several PEFC members, NGOs, universities, companies and certification bodies, the Symposium was the perfect setting for exchanging experiences and discussing a wide variety of topics.

The two day event, which took place between 16 and 17 September, was split into a series of sessions covering a range of topics, including a global and Asia-specific overview of forest certification, government procurement policies, market perspectives and due diligence. PEFC members also played an important role during the symposium, with several speaking at the event, providing their experience of creating and managing a national forest certification system in their respective countries.

“The presence of several speakers from countries around the world reflects the internationalism, importance and significance of the development and implementation of the CFCC (Chinese Forest Certification Council) system,” highlighted Sheam Satkuru-Granzella, PEFC Vice Chair, during her keynote remarks.

“This is a system which has been in development since 2001 and we were proud as the world’s leading forest certification scheme to have endorsed the CFCC earlier this year.”

The CFCS was endorsed by the PEFC General Assembly in February 2014 after demonstrating compliance with PEFC’s globally recognized Sustainability Benchmarks, a suite of requirements for covering a range of issues including standards development, sustainable forest management, Chain of Custody certification as well as certification and accreditation requirements.