Both FSC and PEFC certificates guarantee that the processing and trading wood and forest-based products in a specific company is organized in compliance with EU regulations. It also implies that the forest management units apply sustainable forest management practices.
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are independent international organizations which research, certify and confirm that a specific entity organize its forest management practices in a sustainable way. The two organizations focus their efforts both on forest management units and all the wood product buyers.
At present FSC and PEFC are the largest international certification programs in wood industry.
- FSC (Forest Stewardship Council, Forest Stewardship Council®, FSC®) Cetrificate – acknowledges that the wood of which the particular product is made of comes from forest areas, the management of which is compliant with ecological standards, protecting the key plant and animal habitats.
- Labels with FSC logo help to differentiate these products on the market (both goods and packaging) which have legal origin from certified forest industry responsibly treating nature resources and engaging in responsible forest management following the legal regulations binding in a specific country.
- The eco-certificate FSC has so far been granted to 85 million hectares of forests around the world. The control over forest units is carried out by independent certifying organizations which – in turn – are subject to verification and inspection by FSC. The restrictive regulations also cover wood processing, so the wood with FSC eco-certificates is never mixed with wood coming from other, also illegal sources.
- 3. PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) Certificate – allows verification of wood on each stage of its processing and flow. PEFC Certifying Organization is an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization established in 1999 to promote sustainable forest management by means of forest certification system and labeling of forest – based products by independent units.
- At present PEFC recognizes certification systems implemented in over 30 countries. In total, they are responsible for the certification of over 275 million hectares of forests, which makes PEFC the world leader in forest management certification. The products certified by PEFC are accepted in numerous public and private procurement strategies all over the world.
