The timber trade’s two competing sustainability labels , the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Pan European Forest Certification (PEFC), could become interchangeable in Sweden.
The labels – for long at loggerheads given that FSC labelling was viewed to be too influenced by environmentalism and PEFC too sensitive to trade interests – are being scrutinised by a working group in Sweden that is expected to make a number of recommendations to give the two equal weight.
FSC UK has welcomed the move. Spokesperson Anna Jenkins said: ‘It is really great that stakeholders who had been in different camps are working together to produce a bridging document.
‘It is similar to what we have done with UKWAS in this country and the more similar action from other countries, the better.’
The driving force behind the changes are the Swedish Forest Owners’ Association and companies such as Södra which believe interchangeability could deliver considerable savings and provide additional marketing opportunities.
Dr Sven Lundell, director of the Swedish Forest Owners’ Association and chairman of PEFC Sweden, said: ‘At the moment we cannot combine wood for the two labels in the logistics systems. This costs us a lot of money in terms of time and fuel.
‘We want to be able to combine the wood as early as possible. There are also logo possibilities for us.’
The changes to the labelling regimes are expected to impact PEFC’s systems more than those of FSC, although this is disputed by the PEFC.
Peter Roberntz, secretary of FSC Sweden, said: ‘The working party is looking to see what is needed to make them more equal and this is most likely going to involve additions to the PEFC standard.’
