Conformity assessment of UFCS against PEFC (2010).pdf - ITS Global

Evaluation and assessment of Uruguayan Forest Certification scheme against the requirements of the PEFC Council
1. Introduction
In a letter dated 8 January 2010, the President and Vice President of PEFC Uruguay submitted
an application to PEFCC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Council) for
the conformity assessment of the Uruguayan Forest Certification Scheme (UFCS).
On 14 April 2010 the PEFCC appointed ITS Global to undertake an independent conformity
assessment of the UFCS against the requirements of PEFCC.
Scope of Assessment
The conformity assessment of the UFCS was undertaken consistent with PEFCC minimum
requirements for national and sub-national schemes as detailed in PEFCC Technical Document,
Annex 7.
Following a summary of the development and evolution of the UFCS (Chapter 2) the report
assesses the conformity of UFCS against the framework relevant to:
• Standard setting process (Chapter 3);
• Implementation levels and organisation arrangement of the certification scheme (Chapter
4);
• Forest management standard (Chapter 5);
• Chain of custody standard (Chapter 6);
• Implementation of the PEFC logo usage rights (Chapter 7);
• Certification and accreditation arrangements (Chapter 8).
The report also includes:
• Evaluation of the comments received from stakeholders resulting from the public
consultation period (Annex 1);
• Intelligence and insight gained from a Field Visit and meeting with stakeholders who have
been involved in the development and/or use of the UFCS (Annex 2);
• PEFCC Minimum Requirements Checklist (Annex 3); and
• Evaluation of the comments from the Panel of Experts (which are provided in Annex 4 of the
• report)
Assessment Process and Methodology for Report
Evidence and assessments detailed in the report are generated by benchmarking PEFCC’s
requirements against the standards, processes and accountabilities detailed in the UFCS’s
application documentation together with documentation and records reviewed during Field
Visit.
The following conformance definitions were applied in assessing the conformity of the UFCS
with requirements of PEFCC:
• Conforms – the criteria and requirements of the UFCS are assessed as equivalent to PEFCC
requirements;
• Partly conforms – the criteria and requirement of the UFCS are assessed as being, in
principle, equivalent to PEFCC requirements but with minor inconsistencies or gaps when
compared to PEFCC requirements;
• Does not conform – the criteria and requirement in the UFCS are assessed as having
substantial differences to the PEFCC requirements;
• Not applicable (NA).
www.itsglobal.net Page 9