PEFC Releases Second Edition of Certification Body Requirements – Chain of Custody Standard

13 January 2015 PEFC system news

As part of our continuing efforts to apply best practices in conformity assessment, we have updated the “Requirements for Certification Bodies operating Certification against the PEFC International Chain of Custody Standard” (PEFC ST 2003:2012 Second Edition), taking advantage of the significant improvements of the new ISO/IEC 17065, especially in terms of impartiality to ensure that conflicts of interest do not exist.

PEFC ST 2003:2012 defines the requirements for certification bodies carrying out PEFC Chain of Custody certification. It was developed by a joint working group of PEFC and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), and became effective as of 16th July 2012.

The original version of PEFC ST 2003:2012 was based on ISO Guide 65, which has been canceled and replaced by ISO 17065 on 15 September 2012, with a transition period of three years. ISO 17065 benefits from 13 years of the application of ISO Guide 65 to an enormous volume and significant variety of certifications. It maintains proven requirements of ISO Guide 65 and implements improvements where necessary. PEFC ST 2003:2012 Second Edition now takes advantage of the additional safeguards concerning impartiality and additional changes included in ISO 17065.

While the original version of PEFC ST 2003:2012 followed the structure of ISO Guide 65, the new PEFC ST 2003:2012 Second Edition was changed to follow the structure of ISO 17065. As the changes are limited to this editorial restructuring of the document, no new wordings or additional requirements have been introduced in the second edition.

Both PEFC ST 2003:2012 and PEFC ST 2003:2012 Second Edition are valid until 15 September 2015. After this date, only certification bodies operating against PEFC ST 2003:2012 Second Edition are eligible to carry out PEFC Chain of Custody certification.