The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), whose standards govern the certification of two-thirds of the total global certified forest area, has today published revised standards for sustainable forest management, chain of custody, standard setting, group certification, and logo usage. The standards were approved at the 14th PEFC General Assembly on 12 November 2010.

“The revised standards represent a milestone for forest certification, especially in terms of social requirements, transparency, and stakeholder participation,” said Ben Gunneberg, PEFC Secretary General.

The revised standard on sustainable forest management addresses important issues such as conversion, chemicals, GMOs, ecologically important forest areas, customary and traditional rights, and the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples Rights and ILO Convention 169. PEFC’s requirements for the development of national standards clarifies and further defines criteria related to transparency and public information, and recognizes the nine major groups defined by the Agenda 21 (CSD Major Groups) as the stakeholder groups involved in or concerned by sustainable forest management. The revision process is summarized in the development ( 235 kB) and global public consultation ( 1.3 MB) reports.

The revised chain of custody standard and logo usage rules incorporate the experiences of ten years of certification by thousands of companies globally. Major changes include the recognition of recycled material within PEFC claims, and the inclusion of social requirements.  These social requirements provide an additional layer of confidence to consumers and buyers that elementary rights of workers in companies along the supply chain have been respected,  thereby minimizing business risk for companies along the supply chain. The revision process is summarized in the development ( 142 kB) report.  The transition period for certified companies is twelve month.

Further Information

• Press release: Leading Sustainable Forest Management Standard Approved by PEFC
• Press release: “Historic Moment for Forest Certification”

Download

• Standard Setting – Requirements (PEFC ST 1001:2010) ( 165 kB)
• Group Forest Management Certification – Requirements (PEFC ST 1002:2010) ( 144 kB)
• Sustainable Forest Management – Requirements (PEFC ST 1003:2010) ( 201 kB)
• Chain of Custody of Forest Based Products – Requirements (PEFC ST 2002:2010) ( 353 kB)
• PEFC Logo Usage Rules – Requirements, 2^nd Edition (PEFC ST 2001:2008) ( 254 kB)
• Amendment No. 1 to PEFC ST 2001:2008, PEFC Logo Usage Rules – Requirements ( 153 kB)

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