As regards some groups of species installed in a specific ecosystem as for example the Quercineas, and of which the cork oak (Quercus Suber) is one, It is still impossible to find among the existing standards for the forest management a standard that focuses on an adequate treatment for that particular kind of tree. For overcoming that situation, several public and private entities among which C.E.Liège, IPROCOR – Instituto del Corcho, la Madera y el Carbón (in Spain), the General Directorate of Forest Resources (in Portugal), the Mediterranean Institute of Cork (in France), the Stazione Sperimentale del Sughero (in Italy), as well as Portuguese and Spanish associations of forest owners and producers gathered their effort and endeavour to bring out the International Code of Practices for Cork Oak’s harvesting. This publication contains useful technical elements to be followed up in order to secure a sustainable management of the cork oak forests. Every one curious in reading it can download the PDF document, by going to C.E.Liège’s website: www.celiege.com.

The Spanish Group of supermarkets EROSKI and WWF/Adena have been leading for three years valuable actions for the preservation of environment. Both organisations have now signed an agreement to undertake some actions in the course of the year 2006 in order to inform the public how to protect all the ecosystems.

This year the purpose of the first campaign to be launched is to inform and awake the consciousness of society towards the ecological importance of the use of cork.

The stripping of the cork oak tree (cork harvesting) is an environmentally friendly process which is done once a year and during which not a single tree is cut; the process is safe and not detrimental for the environment; it is a necessary process for the sustainability of this kind of forest (called “montado” in Portugal and “dehesa” in spain).

To summarise, cork oaks landscapes offer a very rich fauna and flora and also perform key ecological functions that include conservation of soil, protection against forest fires, desertification and soil erosion.

CETIE – International technical center for bottling and related packaging
In the context of the works carried out by the CETIE (International Technical Centre for Bottling and Related Packaging), the document ‘guide de l'embouteillage INE nº 1 - bouchage pour vins tranquilles sur bague plate unique’ published in 1996 is under revision. To do this work and update the referred document, the CETIE decided to create a group of experts. Mrs. Sofia afonso is the expert designated to participate in that working group in representation of C.E.LIÈGE. The first meeting of the group was hold in Paris, on 29th June 2006.

The next meeting of the administration board of C.E.LIÈGE will take place on 28 and 29 th September 2006, in Palafrugell (Catalonia Spain)
In that meeting, C.E.LIEGE will present its report of activity of 2006. Besides other items, the main subjects included in the agenda for that day are: - Analysis of the worldwide market of cork and its products; - Actions undertaken in standardisation in the organisations where CE.Liège is represented: ISO (International Organization for Standardization), CEN and CETIE; - Meeting of the Committee of Experts of the EC (Council of Europe) for materials in contact with foodstuff; - Certification of cork oak lands; - Natural Cork Users Group – last meeting in May 2006, at the London International Wine and Spirits Trade Faire (LIWSTF); - Audits SYSTECODE 2006 of the cork companies.

The number of cork companies certified Systecode is increasing every year
The evolution of the implementation of this System of certification can be seen in the graphic below:
http://www.celiege.com/Ingles/frames/celiege_celiege_int.htm