The China Forest Certification Scheme (CFCS) achieved endorsement by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC), the world’s leading forest certification system.

National forest certification systems that have developed standards in line with PEFC requirements can apply for endorsement by PEFC. To achieve endorsement, they need to meet PEFC's Sustainability Benchmarks, which are based on broad societal consensus expressed in international, intergovernmental, multi-stakeholder processes and guidelines. Compliance is confirmed through third-party assessment of national requirements with the international benchmarks, with a global public consultation seeking input from stakeholders worldwide.

The endorsement of the national Chinese forest certification standard represents a significant milestone for safeguarding global forests given the importance of the country in the forest products value chain and its substantial forest area. China is not only the world’s largest manufacturer of forest products, but also among the five countries with the largest forest area in the world.

China currently has the highest afforestation rate of any country in the world, increasing its forest cover from 12% thirty years ago to more than 21% in 2013. The country is continuing to implement policy measures to increase the quality and quantity of its forests and aims to bring forest coverage to 23%, or 223 million hectares, by 2020.

China is the second Asian country after Malaysia to successfully achieve PEFC endorsement for a national certification system, and the Indonesian Forestry Certification Cooperation (IFCC) submitted its scheme for PEFC assessment in November 2013. A range of other countries in the region, including India, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, South Korea and the Thailand are advancing in national system development and exploring options for eventual international recognition by PEFC.

There are already about 2 million hectares of forests in China CFCS-certified, and more than 200 professionals have participated in the CFCC auditor training over the past years to be able to respond to the expected increase in demand for certification services following the endorsement by PEFC.

PEFC is an independent, not-for-profit organization promoting sustainable forest management by certifying forests and the products that come from them. PEFC is the world’s largest forest certification system and the certification system of choice for small- and family forest owners.

More information:

·         China’s National Forest Certification System Achieves PEFC Endorsement – www.pefc.org/news-a-media/general-sfm-news/1459-china-s-national-forest-certification-system-achieves-pefc-endorsement

·         How to develop national PEFC-compliant forest certification systems – www.developingstandards.org/

·         More information about PEFC – www.pefc.org

Thorsten Arndt
Head of Communications
 
PEFC International
World Trade Centre 1
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CH-1215 Genève
Switzerland
www.pefc.org
t.arndt@pefc.org

Skype: thorsten_pefc
Tel: +41 (0)22 799 45 40
Fax: +41 (0)22 799 45 50