The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) has announced that the PEFC International Board has suspended the National Forest Certification System of Belarus, following a request by PEFC Belarus.
PEFC Belarus informed PEFC International that it is experiencing a delay in the periodic review of its system documentation. Because PEFC International requires endorsed systems go through a periodic review to ensure that they are consistently updated to meet PEFC International’s evolving benchmarks and national and international expectations, the delay would have caused PEFC Belarus to miss its periodic review deadline.
According to PEFC, the suspension is effective as of 18 Apr 2022, and suspension is valid until the revised system documentation is submitted, but at least for six months.
This means that certificates issued against the National Forest Certification System of Belarus are no longer PEFC recognised. This applies to both forest management and chain of custody certificates.
Certified organisations are therefore prohibited from using PEFC claims and the PEFC label and cannot sell material as PEFC-certified.
