PEFC ENG

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.

Originally European, PEFC takes into account the specific features of small forests, characteristic of European ecosystems.

In Belgium: timber (raw to finished) and wood by-products (paper, cardboard).

What is guaranteed: forest management which is economically viable, respectful of the environment (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, cooperatives, factories, businesses/ brand holders Changes must be made with care and this is why the system of continuous improvement is important.

What do Berlin, Strasbourg, Prague, London and other cities have in common? In 2012, they all decorated their city centres with PEFC-certified Christmas trees.

For more information: www.pefc.org

PEFC, Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes, previously the Pan European Forest Certificate, is an independent not-forprofit 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 ecosystems. 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 national certification system (as forests differ from one country to another!).

These 76 criteria are based on decisions made at major international conferences 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 voluntary membership, PEFC certification does not give guarantees on the quality of the wood purchased, but rather on the sustainable forestry methods 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 independent organisation) the final product cannot bear the PEFC logo. In Belgium, 287,000 hectares of forest (exclusively in the Walloon region) are PEFC certified.

Type of assessment: third party.

Methods: analysis of the documentary system, random site visits, interviews with internal and external stakeholders.

Sector activities concerned: production, import/export, processing, distribution, public awareness.

Requirements: PEFC has different requirements for tropical and other types of forest.

Available on the website.

PEFC is a programme based on the mutual recognition of national certification systems. Thus, for each country, the procedures and costs are different. For example, in Belgium: Forestry owners Sign the charter of sustainable management, send their management document to the Royal Forestry Society of Belgium (SRFB) or to the Nature & Forest Division (DNF) and pay the subscription. On payment of the subscription, 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.

Room for manoeuvre: A deadline is set for responding to the non-conformity. If the necessary 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.

The businesses are monitored at two levels:

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

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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 signatories will have their PEFC certificate withdrawn.

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 certifying organisation and a subscription to PEFC Belgium according to turnover (€ 100 to 2000/year).

© PEFC 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 exceed the proportion of its PEFC sourced supplies).

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Preparation of the audit by collecting the necessary documents and choosing a recognised certification organisation.

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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 number allocated to the business.

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, Germany, Italy and Great Britain.

PEFC stands for two thirds of certified forests worldwide.

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 America, but wood products coming from certified forests in Gabon and Malaysia will now be able to bear the PEFC label, the guarantee of sustainable forest management.

“But the main challenges involve the sustainable management of tropical forests in the southern hemisphere, as these possess the assets needed to address the greatest challenges facing society, including climate 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. International 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 plantations). 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 standards 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 performance 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 performances 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 operational and decision-making instances (to establish standards, to adopt national standards and to accredit certification bodies) whereas NGOs and associations 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 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples.

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Adjusting to new European legislation

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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 International modifies its Chain of Custody standard.

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February 2013

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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). Referred 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 premium over the market price (considered to reflect the superior quality of the product) and/or through contractual clauses relating to the duration of partnership (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.