Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification
| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Focus | Sustainable forestry |
| Location | |
| Origins | Europe |
|
Area served
|
Global |
| Method | Certification |
|
Key people
|
Ben Gunneberg |
| Website | http://www.pefc.org/ |
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization which promotes sustainable forest management through independent third party certification. It is considered the certification system of choice for small forest owners.
Its 35 worldwide independent national forest certification systems represent more than 300 million ha of certified forests, making it the largest forest certification system in the world, covering about two-thirds of the globally certified forest area. It is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
PEFC was founded in 1999 in response to the specific requirements of small- and family forest owners as an international umbrella organization providing independent assessment, endorsement and recognition of national forest certification systems. It responded to the need for a mechanism enabling the independent development of national standards tailored to the political, economic, social, environmental and cultural realities of the respective countries, while at the same time ensuring compliance with internationally accepted requirements and global recognition.
After the successful endorsement of certification systems in Europe, Australia and Chile became the first non-European national standards to be endorsed by PEFC in 2004. PEFC’s certification criteria are based on globally recognized principles, guidelines and criteria developed by international and intergovernmental bodies with broad consensus from interested stakeholders.
Today, PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system and the certification system of choice for small forest owners.
PEFC International is the only international forest certification scheme that bases its criteria on internationally accepted intergovernmental conventions and guidelines, thereby linking its sustainability benchmark criteria with existing governmental processes. This includes:
PEFC requires adherence to all eight core ILO conventions, even in countries which have not ratified them. These conventions are
PEFC only recognize forests certified to standards that have been reviewed and endorsed by PEFC.
National forest certification systems that wish to be recognized by are required to set standards keeping with the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 59:1994 Code of good practice for standardization. National standard must be developed by so-called National Governing Bodies, and meet requirements for transparency, consultation and decision-making by consensus. These guidelines also outline processes for revising and amending standards, and provide those who utilise the standard with the security of future certainty.
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