PEFC Chain of Custody and PEFC Trademarks public consultations over

24 July 2019 PEFC system news

We received 668 comments during the 60-day global public consultation on our revised PEFC Chain of Custody and PEFC Trademarks standards. The Working Group responsible for revising these documents will now consider all the comments at their next meeting in September.

An essential step…

The global public consultation is an essential part of the PEFC standards setting process.

Up to this point, a multi-stakeholder group (known as the working group) has developed the documents. For these two standards, this includes group representatives from forest industries, certified companies, certification bodies, labour organizations and PEFC members.

The public consultation is when we share the work done by the working group with the rest of the world. This is important for gaining additional feedback and insights. No matter where they live, stakeholders can give their input and share their knowledge, helping to shape these vital standards.

Why is this so important?

With over 20,000 PEFC Chain of Custody certified companies worldwide, our Chain of Custody standard – in addition to delivering PEFC-certified products to the marketplace - has a tremendous impact on internal management processes of numerous businesses along the timber value chain.

While the PEFC trademarks standard ensures the accurate, verifiable, relevant and non-misleading usage of the PEFC logo and initials.

This means we must ensure these standards are the best they can be: that they are straightforward to use, meet customer expectations, and respect the integrity of our requirements and our system. This is why we revise both regularly, ensuring that everybody affected is invited to take part in the process.

To find out more about the current PEFC standards revision process, visit www.standards.pefc.org

The revised standards at a glance

Many of the proposed changes will make PEFC Chain of Custody certification more resource-efficient and environmentally friendly, while retaining the robustness of the system. For example, an option to use remote internal auditing in multi-site certification would reduce travel-related costs and greenhouse gas emissions for on-site auditing.

The revised PEFC Trademarks standard aims at strengthening the consistent use of our PEFC trademarks worldwide, while also making it easier for consumers to understand what the PEFC logo stands for. 

See the documents below for more information about the proposed changes: