Footprints in the forest - Fern

Decision making structure/voting with regard to standard development:
According to PEFC Spain, standard development was a transparent and participatory
process “involving more than 55 organizations, representatives of the Trade Unions,
Professional Associations, Industrial Associations, Public and Private Research Institutes,
Forestry Sector Companies, Consultancies, Public Bodies, Public and Private Forestry
Owners, Universities and End Consumers, and with invitation extended to the main
Environmental Associations”. The Committee’s Draft Standards were published for
public consultation 44 .
It was not possible to find out whether any Spanish environmental organizations had
been involved in the process at one stage or another. It wasn’t possible to identify the
composition of the board and the voting rights and procedures among board members.
Regional certification and/or FMU level certification:
Certification can in theory be carried out either at the regional level or at the group /
individual level. It was not possible to determine at what level certification is carried out
in practice.
Regional Certification requires the creation of a Regional Applicant Entity which, directly
or through representatives, “brings together the forest managers in the region who are
interested in the process” 45 .
The Regional Entity is responsible for the application and is required “to establish a
procedure to ensure that all participants comply with their obligations and provide
technical assistance to the Certification Entity during the audit processes”. The Regional
Entity is also required to keep a register of forest areas and the participants included in
the regional certificate, identifying the owner, manager and the area 46 .
Individual forest owners/managers must actively request to be part of the regional
certification by signing a "Confirmation of Participation in a Regional Forestry
Management Certificate" and commit to complying with the requirements set out in the
Sustainable Forestry Management Certification System. The document will “indicate the
number of the certificate and its term of validity, along with the information on the
Regional Applicant Entity and the Certification Entity which issued the certificate” 47 .
Other
A participant in a Regional Certification may be expelled if a serious breach is observed of
certification requirements and adequate corrective action was not taken after it was
notified in writing. The member expelled may rejoin the group after a specified fixed
period, if corrective action was taken. A Regional Applicant Entity has the power to
decide on the length of the expulsion. An appeal may be brought against this decision
with the PEFC-España Arbitration Commission.
44
PEFC Spain. http://www.pefc.es/eng/sistema/pefc-eng.pdf. The Spanish Certification System for
Sustainable Forest Management, March 2002.
45
Ibid
46
Ibid
47
Ibid
17