On the occasion of the PEFC General Assembly which took place on November 16, PAFC Congo Basin was rewarded for its full recognition.
The ATIBT had federated the different national initiatives to reach a common scheme.
The PAFC Congo Basin regional certification system was recognized in 2021, and was to be confirmed following the response to open non-conformities.
An assessment mission was conducted in November by Form International to evaluate the corrective actions taken by ATIBT and the members of the Pan-African Forest Certification for the Congo Basin. Based on the findings of this assessment, PEFC International has informed the ATIBT that all non-conformities identified in the assessment report have been successfully addressed. The final report of the assessment, including the results of the country visits, confirms the initial findings of the report.
This validation allows PEFC to confirm that Pan African Forest Certification for the Congo Basin is now fully compliant with PEFC requirements and has been granted full certification status.
This decision was welcomed at the PEFC General Assembly held virtually on November 16 (during the PEFC week) by the presentation of an award certificate to the national PAFCs of Cameroon, Gabon and Congo.
During this GA, PEFC welcomed two new board members (Eva Müller and Scott Robertson). Another regional certification scheme was awarded (The Balkan Forest Certification Scheme).
Earlier in the week, at the PEFC International update session, the status of the operationalization of the Congo Basin PAFC was presented. Regarding auditors, Bureau Veritas has been accredited by TUNAC (Tunisian AB), and Control Union is in the process of being accredited by TUNAC. In total, more than 10 experienced auditors were trained by Bureau Veritas Cameroon and Control Union Italy. On the market side, 80 company representatives have been trained on sustainable forest management standards, and there is strong demand for CoC training. Two new companies will be PAFC certified by the end of 2022, representing an additional 1.5 million ha certified in Gabon (in addition to the 900,000 ha already certified).
The "Greenhouse Gas" and "Carbon" tools developed to help companies comply with the requirements of the PAFC Congo Basin standard were also presented.
