The PEFC Council has adopted the revised standard PEFC ST 2003:2020 Requirements for Certification
Bodies operating Certification against the PEFC International Chain of Custody Standard, which enters into force on 14 February 2020.
Among others, the main changes in this revised standard are:
- Inclusion of three new definitions on audit, certification decision maker and technical expert.
- New requirement to become a qualified auditor: shall receive initial PEFC training on PEFC CoC and PEFC system, approved by PEFC Council (6.1.1.2.2). Same requirement also applies to certification decision maker, or if the decision maker consists of a committee or a group of people, at least one of the members shall comply (6.1.1.3.2).
- New format for certificate numbering (7.7.4).
- Determining client organisation’s turnover, and subsequently the collection of PEFC notification fee (Appendix I)
This standard replaces PEFC ST 2003: 2013 Requirements for Certification Bodies operating Certification against the PEFC International Chain of Custody Standard Second Edition dated 17 November 2014 which is the standard currently used under the MTCS. Please take note that an 18-month transition period has been granted for the application of the new standard and that the PEFC ST 2003:2013 will be withdrawn on 14 August 2021.
Following the revision, a new Agreement (Appendix II of NCB 7/2020) will have to be signed between the CB and MTCC and the CB are required to submit the signed Agreement.
Thank you.