Second Revision of The

Second Revision of the

German PEFC scheme

PEFC Deutschland e.V.

Danneckerstr. 37, D-70182 Stuttgart

Tel: +49 (0)711 24 840 06, Fax: +49 (0)711 24 840 31

E-mail: , Web: www.pefc.de

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Introduction

In October 2000, the German PEFC scheme has been endorsed by the PEFC Council for the first time, in December 2005 for the second time. The certificate for endorsement expires on 5 December 2010.

During the period 2000 – 2009 regional certificates have been issued to 13 regional PEFC working groups. The PEFC regions correspond to the Federal States (“Bundeslaender”) so that PEFC certification covers almost the entire forest area in Germany (except for the city states of Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen).

Since 2000 more 7,000 entities (all state forests, 2,700 communal forests, 3,400 private forest enterprises and almost 900 forestry associations with more than 200,000 members) have decided to participate in a PEFC certification by signing a voluntary self commitment.

The second revision process described below aimed at considering all the experience gained over the last five years and at motivating all interest groups to actively participate in this revision.

Scope of the revision process

The revision embraces the system description including all appendices. One outcome of the revision process is a new structure of the documentation. Instead of appendices the documents are divided into four categories: Normative Documents (No. 100X), PEFC Procedure Documents (No. 200X), Forms and Tools (No. 300X) and Other Documents (No. 400X).

The following table presents the new numeration, shows how the new documents relate to the old documentation and if / how their content has been modified:

New title / Old title / Name / Changes /
0001:2009 / System description / Minor
1001:2009 / System description, Ch. 7.2 – 7.5
Appendix I “List of indicators” / Requirements for the region / Major (e.g. reduced of number of indicators)
1002:2009 / Appendix III / PEFC Standards for Germany / Major
1003:2009 / Appendix IX / Chain of Custody requirements / (Annex 4 of the TeDo of PEFCC)
1004:2009 / Logo usage rules / (PEFC ST 2001:2008 of PEFCC)
2001:2009 / System description, Ch. 6.3 / Requirements for certification bodies and auditors / None
2002:2009 / Appendix IV / Manual for the On-Site-Audits / Minor
2003:2009 / Appendix VIII / Procedure for dispute settlement / Major
2004:2009 / Appendix X / Procedures for standard revision / Major in comparison with document from 2005, minor compared to version of January 2009
2005:2009 / Procedures and Criteria for the Endorsement of Forest service enterprise Certificates / New document
3001:2009 / Tool for the definition of objectives and action programmes / New document
3002:2009 / Appendix VI / Model statutes and terms and conditions for regional PEFC working groups / None
3003:2009 / Appendix II / Voluntary self commitments / Minor
4001:2009 / System description, last chapter / Terms and Definitions / None
4002:2006 / Appendix V / Statutes of PEFC Germany / None (version of 2006)
4003:2006 / Appendix VII / Scale of fees for PEFC Germany / None (version of 2006)

The revision process followed the requirements of the “Procedures for standard revision” which were adopted by the German Forest Certification Council (GFCC) on 27 January 2009(1).

Chronology and content of the revision process

Date / Action / Description / Doc /
2008-04-14 / Letter to ENGOs / Letter to BUND, DNR, Greenpeace, NABU, Pro Regenwald, Robin Wood and WWF announcing the revision process and offering meeting. DNR rejected participation by letter of 2008-05-23. Response by and meetings with BUND on 2008-07-09, NABU on 2008-07-23 and WWF 2008-09-29. Only NABU open for participating in revision process / (2)
2008-06-01 / Newsletter 35 / Invitation to visit the General Assembly, at which the revision process is started, and to participate in the revision process.
Published on the website and distributed to more than 3,000 email addresses. / (3)
2008-07-08 / General Assembly of PEFC Germany / Under agenda item 11 the start of the revision process was announced, procedures and timetable were described and representatives of 5 interest groups (state forest, private forest, ENGO, trade union, certification body) presented their expectations concerning the standard revision. / (4)
2008-07-16 / Email asking for nomination for the working groups / Email to members of the GFCC and to regional working groups asking for nominations for the two working groups “Standards” (WGS) and “Procedures” (WGP) before 2008-09-12 / (5)
2008-08-13 / Newsletter 36 / Reporting on the revision timetable and the stakeholder statements at the General Assembly and announcing 4 Round Tables for the first quarter of 2009.
Published on the website and distributed to more than 3,000 email addresses. / (6)
2008-09-23 / Email asking the GFCC for appointing the WGs / 28 persons were nominated for the WGS and 18 for the WGP.
The GFCC was asked to officially appoint these persons as members of the WGs.
Because no GFCC member objected to the proposal before 2008-10-03 the nominated persons were appointed by this date. / (7)
2008-10-13 / Press release on launch of the internet forum / On the homepage of PEFC Germany a box was integrated where stakeholder can register for the Round Tables and submit their opinion / proposals on
-  issues which shall be discussed at the Round Tables
-  necessary improvements of the PEFC scheme
-  new “business areas” for PEFC
The newspaper Holzzentralblatt published this message on 2008-10-24 / (8)
2008-11-20 / Newsletter 37 / Pointing on the internet forum, presenting the dates for the 4 Round Tables and inviting to register for the Round Tables.
Published on the website and distributed to more than 3,000 email addresses. / (9)
2008-12-11 / Constitutive meeting of the WGs / At the joint constitutive meeting of the WGS and WGP consensus was achieved on
-  Mr Erb and Mr Heyn being the chairmen and Mr Teegelbekkers the secretary of the WGs
-  the timetable for the revision process
-  a Proposal for the GFCC to modify the “Procedures for Standard Revision” (Appendix X), deduced from the draft of the PEFC GD 2003:2009 in order to facilitate the participation of further interest groups
The secretary presented a list of critical issues which have arisen in the period 2005 – 2008, the contributions to the internet forum received so far and a synopsis of the existing PEFC standards with the new German FSC standards.
As a result of a brain storming a list of issues, which the WG members want to be considered in the revision process, was recorded. / (10)
2009-01-27 / Meeting of the GFCC / Under agenda item 10 the GFCC decided on
-  modifications in App. X
-  on a revised list of WG members
-  instructing the PEFC secretariat to write letters to the ENGOs in order to inform them about the modified procedures for standard revision and invite them to participate in the process again / (11)
2009-01-28 / 1st Round Table “PEFC certified forest as economic good” in Goettingen / Invitations were sent to more than 1,600 people: 609 FM certificate holders, 8 persons who had registered at the internet forum, 960 from the PEFC Outlook address database and 91 addresses submitted by the partner of the Round Table, the North-Western German Forestry Research Institute.
51 people participated in the Round Table.
The minutes, including the list of participants, were published on the PEFC website. / (12)
2009-02-04 / Letter to ENGOs / Letter to BUND, Greenpeace, NABU, Pro Regenwald, Robin Wood and WWF informing about the revised “Procedures of Standard Revision” and inviting them to join the working groups.
No response. / (13)
2009-02-11 / 1st meeting WGP / Decisions on
-  structuring the work
-  discussing critical issues, e.g. decision that no procedures for group/single certification will be developed)
-  setting up 3 task forces
Telephone conferences were organised (TF1 2008-03-16, TF 2 2008-03-17, TF 3 2008-03-30). The results can be found in the minutes of the 2nd WGP meeting. / (14)
2008-02-18 / 2nd Round Table “PEFC certified forest as workplace and recreational area” in Groß-Umstadt / Invitations were sent to more than 1,600 people: 609 FM certificate holders, 11 persons who had registered at the internet forum, 958 from the PEFC Outlook address database plus the distribution list of the partner of the Round Table, the Curatorship for forest work and forest technology (KWF).
47 people participated in the Round Table.
The minutes, including the list of participants, were published on the PEFC website.
The newspaper Holzzentralblatt published an article on this Round Table on 2009-02-27, the magazine AFZ/DerWald on 2009-05-18 / (15)
2009-02-26 / Newsletter 38 / Reporting on the 1st and 2nd Round Table, inviting for the 3rd and 4th Round Table, informing about the decision of the GFCC concerning the standard revision procedure and asking for nominations for the WGs before 2009-03-26.
Published on the website and distributed to more than 3,000 email addresses. / (16)
2009-03-18 / 3rd Round Table “PEFC certified forest as habitat” in Bonn / Invitations were sent to more than 1,800 people: 835 FM certificate holders, 14 persons who had registered at the internet forum, 965 from the PEFC Outlook address database plus the distribution list of the partner of the Round Table, the Association for the Protection of the German forests (SDW).
39 people participated in the Round Table.
The minutes, including the list of participants, were published on the PEFC website. / (17)
2009-03-24 / Press release re. 3rd Round Table / The title of the press release re. 3rd Round Table was “ENGOs join the discussion” which was misinterpreted by the “FSC community” (citation NABU) that BUND and NABU were actively participating in the PEFC revision process.
As a consequence the NABU published a press release on 2009-03-27 with the title “PEFC does not meet the ecological requirements, stating that “we have expected a lot from the revision process but must recognise that PEFC is not willing to improve the situation in the forest” and that “the discussions reveal that PEFC is not really advancing itself.
PEFC Germany responded with a press release “General Secretary of PEFC disappointed” on 2009-03-31 complaining that NABU adjudicates the revision process although it has yet started.
After a meeting PEFC / NABU a Memorandum of Understanding was signed that NABU will become an observer in the WGS and that NABU and PEFC will jointly agree on any publication concerning the participation of NABU in the revision process in advance. / (18)
2009-03-26 / 1st meeting WGS / Decisions on
-  structuring the work (no task forces)
-  App. III, items 1.1 – 2.3
-  instructing the secretariat to propose options re. all remaining items / (19)
2009-03-01 / 2nd meeting WGP / Discussion and decisions on the proposals of the three Task Forces. Presentation of Dr. Michael Berger re. potential improvements within the scope of regional certification. / (20)
2009-05-14 / 2nd meeting WGS / Decisions on App. III, items 1.1, 2.4 – 4.9 and on Task Force (AGDW/SDW) to submit proposals re. item 4.10 / (21)
2009-05-20 / 4th Round Table “Certification beyond the forest edge” in Hanover / Invitations were sent to more than 1,600 people: 433 FM certificate holders, 924 CoC certificate holders, 12 persons who had registered at the internet forum, 911 from the PEFC Outlook address database and 36 addresses submitted by the partner of the Round Table, the Agency for Renewable Resources.
25 people participated in the Round Table.
The minutes, including the list of participants, were published on the PEFC website. / (22)
2009-06-02 / Newsletter 39 / Reporting on 3rd and 4th Round Table
Published on the website and distributed to more than 3,000 email addresses. / (23)
2009-06-09 / 3rd meeting WGP / Decisions on
-  proposals from the seminar for PEFC auditors
-  proposals from Task Force 3, Dr. Berger and chair/secretary
Based on these decisions first working drafts (V1) of the following documents were developed: 0001, 1001, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2007. These drafts were distributed to the WG members on 2009-07-28 for commenting/approval before 2009-08-13. / (24)
2009-07-09 / 3rd meeting WGS / Decisions on App. III, items 5. – 5.6 / (25)
2009-08-10 / 4th meeting WGS / Decisions on App. III, items “Scope”, 4., 4.10, 6 – 6.9.
By the decisions of the four WGS meeting a first working draft (V1) of document 1002 was developed. / (26)
2009-08-25 / Meeting of the GFCC / The GFCC adopts the draft of the document 1001 for the time being in order to allow the first regional forest reports in 2010 to be elaborated according to the revised list of indicators.
Furthermore there has been a clarification concerning App. X stating that the GFCC will have the final say in the revision process. / (27)
2009-08-26 / Public seminar “Wuerzburg+10” / Two press releases were issued in June and July announcing the seminar and informing about the registration form available on the PEFC website.
Invitations were sent by mail to 541 addresses.
On 2009-08-17 the first working drafts were sent to the participants, which had selected one of the 4 working groups (economical, ecological, social issues and procedures) in the registration form.
79 people participated in the seminar.
The seminar was organised as follows:
-  Presentations by the chairs and secretary of the working groups.
-  Key notes of and discussion between representative of an ENGO and a private forest enterprise.
-  4 workshops moderated by independent experts.
-  All participants got the opportunity to rate the proposals developed in the other 3 working groups.
-  The results were presented by the moderators to the audience.
All presentations and proposals were published on the PEFC website afterwards as well as the first working drafts.
The newspaper Holzzentralblatt published two articles about the public seminar on 2009-08-14 and on 2009-09-11. / (28)
2009-09-09 / Newsletter 40 / Reporting on the “W+10” seminar and announcing the consultation starting on 2009-09-24.
Published on the website and distributed to more than 3,000 email addresses. / (29)
2009-09-15 / 5th meeting WGS / In order to speed the decision making at the WG meeting the WG members were asked (by email 2009-09-08) to vote on the proposals from the “W+10” seminar. But only 8 members participated.
At the meeting decisions were made about every single proposal from the seminar resulting in the second working draft of the document 1002. / (30)
2009-09-16 / 4th meeting WGP / At the meeting decisions were made about every single proposal from the seminar resulting in the second working draft of the documents: 0001, 1001, 2001 – 2005, 3001 – 3003 and 4001. / (31)
2009-09-24 / Start consultation period of 60 days / Emails informing about the start of the consultation were sent to more than 3,700 email addresses referring to a form on the PEFC website where the comments could be inserted.
At the end 19 persons participated in the consultation, submitting 113 proposals. / (32)
2009-11-24 / 6th meeting WGS / Decisions were made about every single proposal from the public consultation resulting in the final draft of the document 1002.
For a long time no consensus could be found for items 6.3 and 6.6 until a telephone conference between representatives of the concerned parties (AGDW, DFUV) on 2009-11-06.
Because there was no majority / consensus concerning items 1.1 and 4.10 the WG transferred the decision making to the GFCC. / (33)
2009-11-27 / 5th meeting WGP / Decisions were made about every single proposal from the public consultation resulting in the final drafts. / (34)
2009-11-30 / Meeting of the GFCC / For items 1.1 and 4.10 of the document 1002 approvable formulations were found and the final drafts of the all documents were approved (under the condition that WGS would approve the proposal).
By email of 2009-12-01 the WGS members were asked for voting on the proposals before 2009-12-11 by postal ballot. A majority / consensus on the two issues was achieved. / (35)
2009-12-09 / Newsletter 41 / Informing about the approval of the new documentation by the GFCC marking the end of the revisions process / (36)
2009-12-23 / Publication of the revised documentation / On the PEFC website http://www.pefc.de/service/technische-dokumente.html

List of available documents

(1)  “Procedures for standard revision”, adopted by the German Forest Certification Council (GFCC) on 2009-01-27