PEFCCertification Council (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) is an independent, non-profit and non-governmental organization. It was established in 1999 to promote sustainable forest management through the third-party independent certification. PEFC provides a protection mechanism for buyers of timber and paper products that promote sustainable forest management.
PEFC was established in June 30, 1999 in Paris. It consists of 11 official representatives of state PEFC management agencies. It got support of not only the associations on behalf of the European area owners of 15 million forests but also some organizations of international forest industry and trade. The national forest certification system is formed and developed in the multi-stakeholder process, and PEFC is the protection organization of these systems’ evaluation and mutual recognition. These state systems reestablished according to the process of intergovernmental activities in order to promote sustainable forest management. This series of ongoing mechanism got support of 149 governments and covered 85% of the world`s forest areas.
Since the establishment, our members have been continuously increasing – at present there are 34 member countries – the number is still further increasing. PEFC has become the largest protection organization of forest certification, including systems all over the world –Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Atlantic Ocean–to provide millions of tons of wood for processing industry. Among the PEFC members, there are 35 independent national forest certification systems. Till now, 23 of them have passed rigorous assessment procedures involving public consultation and the use of independent appraisers to assess the mutual accreditation decisions made by all members. The 23 systems cover more than 200 million hectares of certified forests and supply millions of tons of certified timber for the market, making PEFC the largest certification system in the world. Other national member systems are at different stages of development and are moving in the direction of mutual recognition with PEFC.

PEFC? COC Certification

Many companies in the supply chain are interested in the PEFC wood and paper products certification, which is from virgin forest to certified final products. PEFC certification represents another choice or supplement of FSC certification. Through a PEFC Chain of Custody (COC) certification, you can contribute to the use of responsible raw materials and meet the needs of many customers. GFA is recognized to provide PEFC COC certification and to provide audit according to applicable standards. The goal is the traceability of the certification. Every company in the supply chain has to prove the input and output of its own certified products. PEFC certification is for all companies that are committed to manufacturing, processing or selling PEFC certified products or are expected to become part of the supply chain. Usually, more customers choose to combine the PEFC Chain of Custody and the FSC Chain of Custofycertification. GFA provides a joint audit of the FSC and PEFC COC standards to save the cost for you.