Dear reader!

The Christmas market teems with responsible products this year. For example, why not send FSC-certified Christmas cards to your friends, or maybe put an FSC-labeled Harry Potter book under your FSC-certified Christmas tree? Your choices are plenty, thanks to a growing number of certified companies. This trend is strengthened by recent progress, such as the improved FSC Chain of Custody rules, the FSC Global Strategy, and an online PEFC certificate database.

Merry Christmas!

Anne-Sofie Forfang

Shoppers at the UK food retailer Sainsbury's can now buy their Premium Chopped Tomatoes in an FSC-certified package produced by Tetra Pak. The long-term plan of Tetra Pak is that its full range of paper-based products will be FSC-certified. Read more

The Japanese demand for FSC certified timber from Russia seems likely to grow. In November, senior Japanese politicians visited the Russian Far East in order to explore the possibilities for Japanese buyers to meet Japan's green timber procurement policy. Read more

All envelopes used by the the leading provider of logistics and courier services DHL Express in Poland will soon be labeled with the FSC logo. Responding to demands from DHL Express, two companies in its supply chain have become certified  Read more

The well-known corporation Xerox has achieved FSC as well as PEFC multi-site chain of custody certificates covering 77 sites in Europe, the US and Canada. Xerox is one of the world's largest brands for cut-sheet paper. Read more

Heiko Liedeker, Executive Director of the FSC, has announced his decision to resign from his position. Surely not for want of success: During Liedeker’s leadership period, the FSC has developed fast. Today the FSC label is the most well-known forest certification brand in the global marketplace. Read more

The FSC has adopted a new global strategy, which stresses the importance of making progress within forest certification in tropical forests and among small producers. It also highlights the need to grow the market share for FSC certified products and other forest services, such as carbon sequestration. The FSC has more

The PEFC has launched an on-line search function for confirming the status of all issued PEFC certificates. This is valuable for PEFC certified companies which need to find suppliers or want to check their suppliers' certification status. View the database

The FSC has approved a new set of FSC chain of custody standards. The user-friendliness of the standard is greatly improved, and the new standard covers all business categoriesin the chain of custody. Read more

The new FSC chain of custody standard allows up to 5 percent minor non-controlled components in assembled products. The intention of this rule was to help especially small-scale manufacturers, but the FSC may have missed this goal by introducing a complex derogation procedure. Read more

As from 1st of January 2008, the FSC requires all FSC chain of custody certified companies using non FSC-certified virgin material to comply with the FSC Controlled Wood standard. Secondary manufacturers and printing houses need to adapt prior to their 2008 audit. Read more

On 29-31 January, NEPCon organizes a training course on FSC forest management certification. Informative presentations, exercises and teamwork coordinated by highly qualified certification experts will guide you into the field. The training will be conducted in English. Read more

On the 1st of January, Finnish Kjell-Owe Ahlskog will start in a new job as manager of NEPCon’s activities in Finland and Sweden. Coming from a position as IKEA's global forest manager, he is well-equipped for the task.  Read more

If you are using the Rainforest Alliance Certificate (RAC) seal, please be aware that the design of the seal has been improved. Please contact your NEPCon trademark service provider to receive updated guidelines and graphics.

The WWF has launched a buyer's guide to responsible paper purchasing. The comprehensive guide covers the most important environmental impacts of paper-making and helps paper buyers to reduce their environmental footprint. (Photo courtesy of Kurt Prinz).  The WWF has more 

The FSC has produced a discussion paper exploring the potential synergies between the FSC and the FLEGT system. FLEGT is the main EU initiative for combating illegal logging. Comments on the discussion paper are invited until 22 January 2008. The FSC has more