Certification & Accreditation

Impartial, objective and credible certification is the hallmark of any certification system.

PEFC is the only global forest certification system that strictly separates its activities in standards development from certification and accreditation to assure the independence of these processes and to avoid potential conflicts of interest or bias.

PEFC uses the internationally-recognized requirements for certification and accreditation defined by the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

Requirements for Certification Bodies and Procedures

measure-tree Certification of compliance with PEFC-endorsed standards is not carried out by PEFC itself, but by independent third parties, accredited certification bodies.

Certification bodies also perform annual surveillance audits and periodic re-assessment audits to proactively verify that a certified forest owner or company maintains compliance with PEFC requirements.

To ensure independence and impartiality, PEFC requires certification bodies to be independent from the standards development process and the entity they are certifying. Other requirements include:

Compliance with ISO/IEC 17021:2006 and/or ISO Guide 65:1996. ISO Guide 65 specifies, among others, that certificates can only be granted after non-compliance has been corrected.
Technical competence in forest management and its economic, social and environmental impacts and/or in forest-based product procurement and processing, and material flows in different stages of processing and trading.
Auditors of certification bodies must meet the criteria for quality and environmental management systems auditors as defined in ISO 19011:2002.
Must be accredited by national accreditation bodies

Requirements for Accreditation Bodies

Accreditation serves as a quality-control mechanism to ensure the credibility of the work of certification bodies.

Accreditation bodies independently evaluate the work of certification bodies and assess them to demonstrate their competence, impartiality and performance capability.

PEFC requires national accreditation bodies to comply with ISO/IEC 17011:2004 to ensure that they operate in a consistent, comparable and reliable manner worldwide.

Accreditation bodies need to be members of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), the world association of accreditation bodies.

Public Availability of Information

The credibility of any forest certification system depends on the robust implementation of certification requirements. Although PEFC's safeguard mechanisms follow the best practices developed by ISO, it is clear that errors cannot be eliminated completely.

To minimize risk, PEFC requires that summaries of certification reports on the auditee's conformity with the forest management standard be made publicly available.

Furthermore, information about all issued certificates, including information about suspended, withdrawn and expired certificates, is publicly available on the PEFC website.

PEFC Documentation

External

PEFC Technical Document
Provides the framework for PEFC documentation and defines the common elements and requirements - the Sustainability Benchmark - that certification schemes seeking PEFC endorsement have to meet. Normative requirements are included in the Annexes. Certification and accreditation are covered in Chapter 8 and 9.

Certification and Accreditation Procedures (Annex 6)
Defines the certification and accreditation procedures for national certification schemes

Administration of PEFC Scheme (PEFC GD 1004:2009)
Covers requirements for the administration of the PEFC scheme including PEFC notification of certification bodies; PEFC Logo usage licensing; operation of the PEFC Registration System; complaint and dispute procedures.

PEFC Notification of Certification Bodies Operating Chain of Custody Certification in Countries without a PEFC National Governing Body (GL 6/2006)
Cover requirements for PEFC notification by PEFC Council of certification bodies providing certification for the PEFC chain of custody in countries without authorized PEFC National Governing Body.

ISO/IEC Guide 65 - General Requirements for Bodies Operating Product Certification Systems
Specifies general requirements for third-party operating a product certification system.

ISO/IEC 17011 - Conformity Assessment - General Requirements for Accreditation Bodies Accrediting Conformity Assessment Bodies
Specifies general requirements for accreditation bodies assessing and accrediting conformity assessment bodies (CABs). It is also appropriate as a requirements document for the peer evaluation process for mutual recognition arrangements between accreditation bodies.

ISO/IEC 17021 - Conformity Assessment - Requirements for Bodies Providing Audit and Certification of Management Systems
Contains principles and requirements for the competence, consistency and impartiality of the audit and certification of management systems of all types (e.g. quality management systems or environmental
management systems) and for bodies providing these activities.

ISO 19011 - Guidelines for Quality and/or Environmental Management Systems Auditing
Provides guidance on the principles of auditing, managing audit programmes, conducting quality management system audits and environmental management system audits, as well as guidance on the competence of quality and environmental management system auditors.