The Sociedad de Productores Forestales del Uruguay (SPF) has become the new Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) Council member for Uruguay.

SPF becomes the third Latin American organisation, along with its counterparts in Brazil and Chile, to join PEFC as a member, and is developing a forest certification scheme that it will submit for PEFC approval “in due course”.

PEFC said that it was pleased to have SPF as a member, as “Latin America is one of the world’s regions in which PEFC aims to see a growth in certified forest area and chain of custodies over the next 10 years”.

This is in accordance with the PEFC Council’s new strategic plan, which it recently launched to create confidence in the market place on the legality of timber.