The national forest certification systems of the Czech Republic and France have become the latest systems to seek PEFC endorsement for the third time. Stakeholders globally are invited to provide feedback on their compliance with PEFC International's Sustainability Benchmarks by 28 October 2011.

With PEFC International limiting the validity of endorsements to five years, national schemes must be revised in multi-stakeholder processes and apply for re-endorsement to continue benefitting from PEFC recognition.

As part of the endorsement process, PEFC seeks comments and feedback from all interested parties to ensure full compliance of the national systems with PEFC's Sustainability Benchmark during a 60-day global public consultation.

"We require stakeholder engagement throughout the standards development and endorsement processes at both national and international levels," said Ben Gunneberg, PEFC Secretary General. "In-depth involvement of all interested parties ensures that a scheme reflects the best practices and incorporates available knowledge and expertise, and is aligned with their expectations and needs."

Arguably, PEFC has the most rigorous assessment process for national certification systems seeking international recognition. In addition to the comprehensive and inclusive process at national level, all standards are subjected to an independent third-party evaluation, global public consultation, a review by the Panel of Experts, and consideration by the PEFC Board of Directors before PEFC members decide about the endorsement of a particular national system.

All comments received during the global public consultation will provide valuable information for the third-party assessor in determining whether the respective national system is in compliance with international requirements.

Interested stakeholders are invited to use PEFC's Online Consultation Tool to provide comments by 28 October 2011.