Officials from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will meet NGOs on July 26 to hear their concerns about the government’s re-assessment of two forest certification schemes.
The meeting, to involve Greenpeace, WWF, Friends of the Earth and Forests and the EU Resource Network, will focus on the government’s reassessment of the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
Both schemes recently changed their regulations after failing to meet the Central Point of Expertise on Timber’s definition of sustainable forest management last November.
Bob Andrew, Defra procurement adviser, said results of the reassessment would be released in early August.
The government originally intended to change its timber procurement advice on May 9 but has been postponing implementation until the reassessment process was complete.
