Contribute to standards

Stakeholder engagement is crucial to the success of any certification system. It is only through the participation of all interested parties that we can ensure all information and knowledge is applied, experiences and best practices are integrated, and stakeholder expectations are met.

You can get involved in many different ways, from giving feedback through an online public consultation, to helping drive the development of a standard by joining a working group.

Developing international standards

At the start of any standard development process or revision, we need a working group to lead the process. Everybody can nominate a representative to be in a working group. This is your chance to get someone who represents your interests – or yourself – into the process.

Once the development process has begun, you can comment on and discuss specific issues arising from some of the standards by joining an expert forum. These forums are open to everyone and provide valuable advice to the working group.

About half way through the process, the working group will have an enquiry draft standard ready for a public consultation. This is when we need you! Read the draft, make your comments and give direct feedback. Every comment made will get an answer. Check out the current public consultations. 

Visit our standards revision website and sign up to the newsletter for more information and regular updates. 

Developing national forest management standards

As with the development of international standards, the development and revision of the PEFC endorsed national forest management standards relies fully on stakeholder participation. 

All stakeholders will be invited and able to participate in the process, whether it is through active participation in the national working group or through submitting input and comments in the 60-day public consultation.

National standards need to be reviewed after a five-year implementation cycle. We keep track of the exact date by when this review shall have started. We call this date the “review date”. It serves as a helpful reminder for when you can expect the review process to start in your country and to offer your nomination for the national working group.

Visit our national member section to find out the review date of the forest management standard in your country, or contact your national member directly for further information.

Assessing national standards

Help us to ensure that nationally developed standards meet our international requirements. National standards submitted to us for approval must go through a 60-day online public consultation.

This consultation enables you, as a global stakeholder, to comment and provide feedback on any aspect of a national forest certification system. We also organize a webinar to introduce the system and highlight the main aspects, to help you give an informed opinion.

We then give your comments to the independent assessor responsible for verifying the national standards meet our international requirements.