Creation: 1999

Based in: Geneva

Origin/need: PEFC made its first appearance

during a period of denunciation of deforestation

practices in the Amazon rainforest. Forests and

wood have a fundamental role in the fight

against climate change. It is necessary therefore

to guarantee the sustainable origin of wood to

consumers.

Sector: forest management.

In Belgium: timber (raw to finished) and wood

by-products (paper, cardboard).

What is guaranteed: forest management which

is economically viable, respectful of the environ-

ment (regeneration, protection of biodiversity,

water and soils) and socially beneficial (local

employment, respect for indigenous populations

and the rights of workers).

Stakeholders: NGOs, consumers, trade unions,

public authorities, forestry owners, businesses,

experts.

Beneficiaries: Independent producers, cooper-

atives, factories, businesses/ brand holders

Changes must be made with care and this is

why the system of continuous improvement is

important.

PEFC, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes,

previously the Pan European Forest Certificate, is an independent not-for-

profit NGO, founded in 1999.

It was initially launched in 12 European countries (including Belgium) that

were anxious to set up a certification system that would take into account

the special features of small forests, characteristic for European ecosys-

tems. PEFC’s objective is the promotion of management which respects

the environment, but which is also socially beneficial and economically

viable.

Its certification is based on recognition by PEFC International of each na-

tional certification system (as forests differ from one country to another!).

These 76 criteria are based on decisions made at major international con-

ferences on the environment, such as in Helsinki in 1993. With 245 million

hectares of woodland certified throughout the world, PEFC has today

gone significantly beyond the boundaries of the European Union, and is

particularly well established in North and Central America. Based on vol-

untary membership, PEFC certification does not give guarantees on the

quality of the wood purchased, but rather on the sustainable forestry meth-

ods that have produced it. Alongside certification of the forest itself, PEFC

provides certification for the “Control Chain”, issued to businesses active

in the processing chain.

If only one of these businesses does not have a certificate (or it has been

withdrawn at the end of an annual inspection carried out by an independ-

ent organisation) the final product cannot bear the PEFC logo. In Belgium,

287,000 hectares of forest (exclusively in the Walloon region) are PEFC

certified.

What do Berlin, Strasbourg, Prague,

London and other cities have in com-

mon? In 2012, they all decorated their

city centres with PEFC-certified Christ-

mas trees.

For more information: www.pefc.org

Originally European, PEFC takes into account the specific features of small

forests, characteristic of European ecosystems.

PEFC is a programme based on the mutual recognition of national certifi-

cation systems. Thus, for each country, the procedures and costs are dif-

ferent. For example, in Belgium:

Forestry owners

Sign the charter of sustainable management, send their management doc-

ument to the Royal Forestry Society of Belgium (SRFB) or to the Nature &

Forest Division (DNF) and pay the subscription. On payment of the sub-

scription, they will receive their certificate of participation in PEFC forest

certification. The subscription covers the cost of managing businesses of

owners by an accredited independent certification organisation.

The businesses are monitored at two levels:

Internally, by the SRFB and the DNF, who perform audits.

Externally, by an accredited independent certification organisation.

Should a non-conformity be detected in respect to the majority of owners

and not be taken into account, the SRFB or DNF will have the authority to

advise PEFC certification to be withdrawn, and the whole group of signato-

ries will have their PEFC certificate withdrawn.

Businesses

First it is necessary to choose between two methods of monitoring timber

flows: physical separation of labelled timber from non-labelled timber at all

stages of production, transportation and storage or parity method

(proportion of PEFC labelled timber produced by a company must not ex-

ceed the proportion of its PEFC sourced supplies).

Preparation of the audit by collecting the necessary documents and

choosing a recognised certification organisation.

If the certifying organisation states that the business fulfils the

PEFC requirements (no “non-conformity”), it will issue a certificate

valid for five years. The certificate will bear the Control Chain num-

ber allocated to the business.

Type of assessment: third party.

Methods: analysis of the documentary system,

random site visits, interviews with internal and

external stakeholders.

Sector activities concerned: production, im-

port/export, processing, distribution, public

awareness.

Requirements: PEFC has different require-

ments for tropical and other types of forest.

Available on the website.

Room for manoeuvre: A deadline is set for

responding to the non-conformity. If the neces-

sary actions are not carried out within the time

allowed, the participant will be excluded.

Improvement procedure: Forest management

is a long process and rotation (in broad-leaved

trees) sometimes takes longer than a human

generation.

Private forestry owners:

For 3 years: 5 EUR for a forest of less

than 5 ha, plus 0.5 euros /ha for every

additional hectare (max. 250 euros).

Businesses:

+/- € 750 / year for audit by the certify-

ing organisation and a subscription to

PEFC Belgium according to turnover

(€ 100 to 2000/year).

Beneficiaries: 9548 small and large

companies certified in the world (of

which 384 in Belgium).

Range: 247 million hectares of forest are

PEFC certified worldwide (35 countries)

or the combined surface of France, Ger-

many, Italy and Great Britain.

PEFC stands for two thirds of certified

forests worldwide.

© PEFC

Following recognition of the forest certification systems of Gabon (PAFC)

and Malaysia (MTCS), PEFC is today taking its first steps on the African

and Asian continents.

Until now, PEFC has had a presence mainly in Europe and North Ameri-

ca, but wood products coming from certified forests in Gabon and Malay-

sia will now be able to bear the PEFC label, the guarantee of sustainable

forest management.

“But the main challenges involve the sustainable management of tropi-

cal forests in the southern hemisphere, as these possess the assets

needed to address the greatest challenges facing society, including cli-

mate change, deforestation, damage to forests and the maintenance of

biodiversity throughout the world”, explains Ben Gunneberg, Secretary

General of PEFC.

The primary forests of Africa and Asia can now be certified using the

PEFC system. “More than two-thirds of the surface area of Gabon is

woodland and the country has a rainforest of great biodiversity. Interna-

tional recognition of the Gabonese scheme is a first in the Congo basin

and is a step in the right direction”, says Gunneberg.

In Malaysia, 59.4 % of the country is forested (natural forests and planta-

tions). This is 19.52 million hectares, of which 4.84 million hectares

(Permanent Reserved Forests) are certified under the MTCS system.

- Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme (MTCS) : www.mtcc.com.my

- Gabonese Forest Certification Scheme (GFCS)

- Brazilian Program of Forest Certification (BPFC): www.inmetro.gov.br

- CERTFORCHILE Forest Certification Scheme : www.certfor.org

Local actors are at the core of PEFC certification. The main criticism of the

PEFC label is that it admits to its system a very broad range of national stand-

ards that differ too much from one another. For instance, the label includes

standards (such as those in Sweden) that are very detailed and clearly set per-

formance thresholds as well as standards (such as the French one) that do not

define any performance thresholds.

These comments address one of the founding principles of the system, which

claims its standards focus on continuous improvement of management perfor-

mances without setting any minimum performance thresholds.

Moreover, the label is under fire because the different stakeholders are not

represented in a balanced way in national decision-making bodies. Indeed,

forest operators and timber businesses definitely play a privileged part in oper-

ational and decision-making instances (to establish standards, to adopt nation-

al standards and to accredit certification bodies) whereas NGOs and associa-

tions are sometimes less involved.

Yet, the PEFC system is accessible to smaller initiatives and it is good that it

encourages local communities to define criteria and take on ownership of them.

It also takes a step-by-step approach. Since its establishment, the label has

tried to progressively improve its procedures and standards. PEFC has just

adopted new sustainable forest management criteria and from now on uses

social criteria to control labelled timber flows. The new standards for instance

recognize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

and Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Indige-

nous and Tribal Peoples.

Adjusting to new European legislation

From March 2013 onwards, a European Union regulation prohibits the illegal

exploitation of forests and the sales of tropical timber and timber products

(including pulp and paper) of non-certified origin. Consequently, PEFC Interna-

tional modifies its Chain of Custody standard.

February 2013

PEFC International

10, Route de l'Aéroport

Geneva 1215—Switzerland

Tel: +41 (22) 799 45 40

Fax: +41 (22) 799 45 50

info@pefc.org

www.pefc.org

* The remuneration guarantee varies according to the system. Some provide a “fair” wage, with a discretionary income (EFT, Fair for Life, Fairwild, FSC, GoodWeave, Max Havelaar (FLO), BSCI, ETI, Fair Wear, RSPO, SA8000, STEP, WFTO). Re-ferred to as a “living wage”, it varies from one region to another and is calculated in relation to the cost of living (basket of household goods). Other systems simply guarantee compliance with legal indices, without examining their correlation with the “fairness” of the amount paid. ** Financial security sometimes takes the form of setting a guaranteed minimum price (essentially for raw materials), sometimes the payment of a premi-um over the market price (considered to reflect the superior quality of the product) and/or through contractual clauses relating to the duration of part-nership (long-term), easy access to (pre)financing, etc.

These factors have a strong correlation with the criterion of “remuneration”: A correct price implies “fair” remuneration.