PEFC launches Vietnamese System Development Toolkit

8 December 2014 News

Government officials, forestry experts and certification bodies in Viet Nam had the very first opportunity to see PEFC’s brand new Vietnamese version of the System Development Toolkit, following its launch today. 

On the occasion of PEFC CEO Ben Gunneberg’s trip to Viet Nam, this new language version of the toolkit was officially launched during the Forestry Certification Workshop 2014, held in Hanoi and organized jointly by the Vietnamese Academy of Forest Sciences and PEFC International.

The event gave government officials and other stakeholders the opportunity to learn first-hand the advantages of bottom-up, nationally controlled forest certification systems with presentations given by representatives of both Malaysia and China.

“Malaysian stakeholders chose PEFC as it ensured international accountability and access to global markets for certified wood, whilst at the same time ensuring the sovereignty of a national system owned and managed by local stakeholders - an option only available through PEFC,” explained Sabrina Wu, PR and Marketing Manager at MTCC (Malaysian Timber Certification Council).

Professor Wenming Lu, Deputy Secretary General for CFCC (China Forest Certification Council), emphasized the importance of independent national systems and encouraged the Vietnamese, who have recently developed a national standard, to now develop the supporting delivery systems. These systems could be supplied by the Vietnamese accreditation body, part of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), which would enable Vietnamese certification bodies and auditors to deliver world quality certification at competitive prices, making certification more affordable to more land managers than is currently the case without a national system.

The PEFC event was oversubscribed and a further event is planned in Ho Chi Minh City, tomorrow Tuesday 9 December.

The Toolkit

Designed to address the needs of organizations currently leading standard setting processes, the Toolkit provides a step-by-step guide to developing a national forest certification system aligned with PEFC’s globally recognized sustainability benchmark requirements. It gives hands-on advice for practitioners, summarizes complex requirements with innovative graphics and captures recommendations from PEFC and its existing members who have completed the same process.

For what can often be a lengthy process, the toolkit provides a roadmap to ensure people don’t lose sight of where they are at and differentiates 5 key phases of the process: Your organization, Developing your System, PEFC Council membership, PEFC Endorsement and Running your System.

If you’re interested to join PEFC’s community of learning around standard setting or to keep informed about PEFC’s expanding support service and related workshops and events, please contact development@pefc.org.