German sawmilling association criticises double certification

A German sawmilling body has expressed concern at attempts to pursue double certification in several of the country’s states.

Lars Schmidt, vice-president of the German Association of the Sawmilling and Timber Industry (BSHD), voiced concern about certification to both Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards after announcing BSHD’s new membership of PEFC Germany.

“Certification is playing an important role in the forest and wood cluster,” said Mr Schmidt, who has also been elected as a member of the German Forest Certification Board.

“We are quite concerned seeing the attempts and discussions of double certification in some federal states in Germany, such as Hessen. As long as there are different international standards concerning FSC certification there is no fair competition.”

Mr Schmidt said consumers were not aware of these different international standards and could not distinguish differences, assuming that FSC logos on products were all equivalent.

He also said German forest management standards were still higher than foreign standards, with German FSC certification stricter than foreign FSC certification.

“The fact is that exorbitant German certification standards jeopardise the raw material supply of the German sawmilling and wood industries.”

Mr Schmidt also said foreign wood was cheaper, but the environmental impact of transporting this wood into Germany in terms of CO₂ emissions was “unacceptable”.