representatives of European forest owners and industries have claimed a significant forward movement in plans to develop a new certification and labelling scheme for sustainable forest products. This was decided at a meeting held in Oslo, Norway. The Pan-European Forest Certification Scheme ( pefc) is being developed by industry groups unhappy with the global Forest Stewardship Council ( fsc). Under the fsc' s chamber system, environmental groups and representatives from the developing countries have a greater say than forest industries, a system which small European forest owners, in particular, object to. Moves to launch an alternative industry-inspired certification scheme and label began in 1998. At the latest meeting of the pefc steering committee, industry representatives agreed to a basic document setting out how the scheme will be structured.
According to Martin Lillandt of Norway's Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners, the paper settles the technical framework for introducing the pefc, based on the pan-European Helsinki resolution on forest protection agreed upon in 1993.
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