Conformity assessment of UFCS against PEFC (2010).pdf - ITS Global

Evaluation and assessment of Uruguayan Forest Certification scheme against the requirements of the PEFC Council
Forest Management. Criteria and Indicators). UNIT 1151 was approved by STC-SFM on 24
April 2006 and subsequently approved by UNIT’s General Norm Committee on 10 May
2006.
• UNIT 1152 (Sustainable Forest Management. Criteria and Indicators). This
document specifies the indicators, justifications, objectives and parameters for
evaluating social, environmental and economic outcomes to be delivered from forest
management units for each of the Montreal Process Criteria. The initial edition of UNIT
1152 was approved by STC-SFM on 24 April 2006 and subsequently by UNIT’s Norms
General Committee on 10 May 2006. Following a review by STC-SFM of “Conservation
and maintenance of soil and water resources” (Criteria 4, Item 6.4), a revised edition of
UNIT 1152 was approved by STC-SFM on 18 December 2006 and approved by UNIT’s
General Norm Committee on 7 March 2007.
• UNIT 1153 (Sustainable Forest Management. Chain of Custody). The STC-SFM,
following deliberations on appropriate CoC systems for Uruguay, recommended the use
of the requirements specified in PEFCC Annex 4 (Chain of Custody of Forest Based
Products) for firms seeking CoC certification under the UFCS. This recommendation was
approved by STC-SFM on 18 December 2006 and subsequently approved by UNIT’s
General Committee of Norms on 7 March 2007.
Phase 2
Following the Uruguayan Society of Forestry Producers (SPF) gaining PEFC Council membership
in 2009, and their subsequent endorsement as PEFC National Governing Body for Uruguay, the
Uruguayan Forest Management Standards (UNIT 1151:2006 and UNIT 1152:2006) were placed on
public consultation from 1 April to 23 May 2009 with aim of meeting PEFCC requirements for
public consultation.
The STC-SFM – after considering the five comments resulting from public consultation processes
in April-May 2009 and results of pilot testing - approved a revised edition of UNIT 1151 and UNIT
1152 on 10 December 2009 (refer to GD12 and GD13 respectively). The revised edition of UNIT
1151:2009 and UNIT 1152:2009 were subsequently approved by UNIT’s General Norm Committee
on 14 December 2009 and PEFC Uruguayan General Assembly on 18 December 2009 (refer to
GD05).
As a consequence of the above process, the UFCS comprises of the following scheme specific
sustainable forest management standards:
• UNIT 1151:2009. Sustainable Forest Management. Glossary of Terms.
• UNIT 1152:2009. Sustainable Forest Management. Criteria and Indicators.
For chain of custody certification the UFCS utilizes the requirements of PEFCC’s Annex 4: Chain
of Custody of Forest Based Products.
The consultant’s assessment notes that the original Scheme Documentation submitted by PEFC
Uruguay was incorrectly numbered as UNIT 1151 (2006) and UNIT 1152 (2006) (refer to GD10 and
GD11 respectively).
Revised numbered editions of forest management standards were received following subsequent
discussions with PEFC Uruguay. The revised editions are identified as:
• UNIT 1151: 2009 (Edition 2009-12-15). Sustainable Forest Management – Glossary of
Terms (included as Document GD12),
• UNIT 1152: 2009 (Edition 2009-12-15). Sustainable Forest Management – Criteria and
Indicators (included as Document GD13).
The revised numbered editions represent the documents approved by PEFC Uruguay General
Assembly on 18 December 2009. These documents are consistent with the documentation for
UNIT 1151 (2009) and UNIT 1152 (2009) on UNIT’s website (www.unit.org.uy).
For the purpose of evaluating the conformity of sustainable forest management standard
against PEFC requirements, the (English) edition of UNIT 1151: (2009) (referred to as GD12),
and UNIT 1152 (2009) (referred to as GD13) were used.
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