Give your feedback on the Austrian and Romanian forest certification systems

20 June 2017 News

PEFC invites stakeholders around the world to comment on the Austrian and Romanian national forest certification systems, following their submission to PEFC for endorsement. To give your feedback, head to our Online Consultation Tool.

PEFC Romania is one of our newest national members, joining last November during the General Assembly in Bali. This means it is the first time they have submitted their national system to PEFC for endorsement. Make your comments now! The deadline is 14 August 2017.

Austria was one the first countries to achieve endorsement of its national forest certification system back in 2000. Two successful re-endorsements of the system followed in 2006 and 2011. Nearly 3 million hectares of Austria’s forests are PEFC-certified - more than three quarters of the whole of the country’s forest area. We need your feedback! The deadline is 7 August 2017.

The PEFC endorsement process

The global public consultation is a vital part of the PEFC endorsement process. All comments received during the 60 day consultation will be provided to the independent organization carrying out the assessment. This valuable information will help determine whether the national system is in compliance with our international requirements.

To ensure that the national systems continue to meet best practices, scientific advances and society’s expectations, we require them to be revised regularly through a multi-stakeholder process. We do this by limiting the validity of endorsements to five years, after which they can apply for re-endorsement to continue benefitting from PEFC recognition.

We need your comments!

We invited all stakeholders to use our Online Consultation Tool to provide comments on the two systems:

• Austrian Forest Certification Scheme (7 August)
• Romanian Forest Certification Scheme (14 August)