The UK government commissioned a review of certification schemes to monitor compliance with its own timber procurement policies, conducted through the so called Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET). CPET undertook an initial assessment of five forest certification schemes in 2004, carried out a further review in 2006, and is committed to reassess schemes every two years to monitor continued compliance, including assessing the certification schemes most widely used to certify timber used in the UK to establish which provide adequate evidence of legality and sustainability.

The 2008 review was undertaken against the May 2006 version of Criteria for Evaluating Certification Schemes. These set out definitions of "legal" and "sustainable" as currently used by the UK government for procurement which includes technical and environmental, but not social, requirements. Like for the previous editions of the CPET reviews, assessments are made on the basis of certification requirements and do not involve any verification on the ground.

In summary, the results of the 2008 review indicate that four of the five schemes -- FSC, PEFC, CSA, and SFI -- continue to deliver evidence of sustainability. The fifth scheme, the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) system, which was found to deliver legality in the last assessment, is in the process of introducing revised requirements.

The 2008 review concluded that the scheme will provide evidence of sustainability once these revisions are fully in place. During the transition MTCS will continue to provide evidence of legality which is currently adequate to meet the policy but will no longer be sufficient once the policy changes in April 2009. At the next review, due in 2010, national schemes which are part of endorsed global programmes, such as CSA and SFI under PEFC, will no longer be individually assessed. "The results confirm the robustness and integrity of credible forests certification schemes", commented Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC. "Furthermore, the revised procurement policy sends a strong message to companies and consumers to buy responsibly and to support sustainable forest management by choosing PEFC-certified products."

SFI has also responded to the evaluation, stating their positive results are important to the organization as a whole. "Each CPET assessment is independent, open and rigorous," said Sofie Tind Nielsen, CPET coordinator and manager. "Certification programs such as the SFI program provide evidence that wood or wood products are from legal and sustainable sources in compliance with the UK government's criteria, and this is examined by a technical review panel of four experts selected for their certification expertise, independence and international input." No formal reactions were noted in the NGO community following the CPET review announcement. Recall that environmental groups such as WWF have stated in the past their deep disappointment at the recognition of PEFC as a scheme delivering sustainable timber. For such groups, FSC is the only credible forest certification scheme.

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