PEFC CoC Certification

What is CoC ?

CoC stands for Chain of Custody and it is a certification system that was formed in order to protect forests all over the world and to prevent their devastation which unfortunately continues to occur. The holder of the certificate with the PEFC logo documents for the final consumer of wood or forest products that the material for manufacturing these goods has been acquired in forests kept in a sustainable manner and has been acquired in a legal way

Wood from certified forests goes through a chain of logging, processing, manufacturing, and trading entities before it reaches the final customer. Therefore it is necessary to follow the flow of the raw material so that the origin of the wood may be demonstrated.

The Chain of Custody certificate is a statement made by an independent, qualified, and accredited body. In order to be able to document the origin of the wood of a product, all processing companies, manufacturers, and traders that come into contact with it must possess the certificate.

What does PEFC stand for?

The PEFC Council (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) is an independent, non-profit, international organization registered in Geneva that represents a framework for establishing and mutual acknowledging of independent national certification systems. The Czech Republic is one of 11 founding countries and was at the birth of the PEFC Council in 1999.

What legislative requirements shall be adhered to when implementing a system to gain successful CoC certification according to the PEFC system?

The valid international document regulating the certification of the chain of custody is PEFC ST 2002:2013 and replaces the previous version of the Technical Document.

The Czech version of the document has the designation CFCS 2002:2013. The PEFC standards have different designations in individual countries and are always designated as translations of the basic international version of the Document.

The new version of the document contains all the requirements to meet EUTR European legislation on the marketing of timber and timber products.

Information about the system, standards, the list of certified entities may be found on the Czech Republic PEFC website: www.pefc.cz orwww.pefc.org.

CoC certification is intended for processing companies, traders, distributors of wood and wood products and possibly of other forest products. Due to the fact that it is a document of origin, it is linked to owners and managers of forests who are certified within the scope of forest certification and the certification process then concerns all those who come into contact with the material from these certified forests and want to document the origin of the raw material to their customers.

Information for PEFC certificate holders relating to Covid-19

Latest updated regarding PEFC certification related to the “COVID-19 outbreak” is presented HERE.

Due to the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, travel and medical restrictions are affecting auditing activities. In order to provide some flexibility for certification bodies and certified companies affected by the disease, PEFC is issuing the “COVID-19: Guidance for certification bodies and certified companies”. This guidance sets forth provisions for permitting the implementation of remote audits due to the consequences of travel restrictions. In special cases extension of certificate validity may also be possible.

Documents and standards for download

Application form for FSC^®/ PEFC Chain-of-Custody Certification [ DOCX 51 kB ]

You can find our General terms and conditions for the Chain of Custody certification here: Terms and Conditions (5.)