Moscow. Jul 16, 2009. /Lesprom Network/. In June 2009, the ALPI Group was awarded the OLB certification (OLB-CERT-090501) for its forestry operations in Cameroon, the company's press service informed Lesprom Network. Granted by Bureau Veritas Certification, this certification ensures the legal compliance and traceability of the wood produced and sold by the company.

Since March 2007, the ALPI Group and the TFT (Tropical Forest Trust) have worked together under the EU-funded TTAP (Timber Trade Action Plan) programme to develop a comprehensive set of technical, management and social actions that have been implemented in all the Group’s production sites in Cameroon.

“This certification is a result of the determination and hard work the company is demonstrating every day, with a view of achieving excellence standards in sustainable forest management”, said Scott Poynton, TFT’s Executive Director.

Vittorio Alpi, ALPI’s Managing Director commented on this achievement, stating: “at ALPI we like to demonstrate our commitment by showing concrete achievements, and the OLB certification is a meaningful example in this sense”. Commenting on the importance of the certification, he further mentioned: “We sell our products worldwide. Thanks to this certification we can now assert that Alpi's products are consistent with the current standards on timber import: the U.S. Lacey Act and the EU FLEGT action plan, at least according to the current content of the latter draft law”.

With 7 enterprises, 6 companies, 11 productive plants, Italian Alpi Group is a major international industrial group operating in the timber sector.

Established in 1999, the Tropical Forest Trust is a non-profit international organisation seeking to transform the international trade in tropical timber and timber products into a system committed to forest conservation. It has established partnerships with governments, timber companies and international organisations to increase the number of FSC-certified forests worldwide.