The Forest Stewardship Council’s monopoly on having the only timber sustainability label in the UK is set to be broken by the Pan European Forest Certification (PEFC).
By the end of the year Edinburgh-based PEFC UK expects to have in place its Scheme for Sustainable Forestry Management. The launch will mean that forestry owners, timber processors and retailers will be able to attach a PEFC sustainability label to their output from early next year.
The move will help to make British timber products more attractive to some key European markets.
John Gunn, PEFC UK secretary, said: ‘The new label will give access to certain markets where PEFC tends to be the label of choice. What we are offering is access to PEFC labels if that is what the customer wants.’
It is claimed that companies already with certification, such as that from the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme, should find obtaining a PEFC label a quick and comparatively straightforward process. Mr Gunn said some companies could win their PEFC label within weeks of applying for it.
The launch of the second UK sustainability label is dependent on an audit, being conducted for the Council of the PEFC in Luxembourg, proving successful.
PEFC UK is not able to give a figure for the costs of gaining the use of its label but said they would be kept to a minimum.
Some £8,000 remains to be raised by PEFC UK to go towards the £20,000 cost of launching the scheme and fees owed to PEFC head office. The organisation is confident that all the money required will be raised by members over the coming months.
