Timber coming from Latvian Forest Certification Scheme forests after February 28 can no longer be regarded as PEFC-certified following delays in the revision process of the scheme.
The PEFC Council said it had already granted two extensions to the scheme’s PEFC-endorsed status to allow periodic revision to be completed but refused to grant any further time when the last extension expired on February 28. Scheme Forest management certificates are no longer valid, but chain of custody certificates are unaffected.
The revised Latvian scheme is currently out to consultation and may be ready in time for the PEFC Council board to consider by April, with the earliest possible re-endorsement by May.
“This is about us [PEFC Council] robustly implemtenting our own rules, it’s nothing to do with the Latvian forests,” said PEFC Council secretary-general Ben Gunneberg. “There is a lot of embarrassment caused to everyone but it demonstrates that people need to keep to the rules.”
Mr Gunneberg said the PEFC Council’s decision not to grant further time to Latvia sent out a “strong signal” to other national PEFC certification schemes that they needed to complete revison processes on time.
“Anyone buying timber from a forest certified to the Latvian Forest Certification Scheme after February 28 can no longer consider it certified.”
Mr Gunneberg said the expiry of Latvia’s PEFC status would affect those companies buying direct from the forests, in that logs felled after the expiry would no longer be certified. Importers and merchants further down the supply chain would need to rely on their suppliers about the certified status of timber.
He conceded that companies may notice less Latvian PEFC timber available.
National forest certification schemes endorsed by the PEFC Council have to be revised every five years. Latvia’s original PEFC-certified status expired in 2006, when the first extension was granted.
