SAFAS – PEFC South Africa National Governing Body
Date: 8 April 2024
South Africa is the process of revising the South African National Forestry Certification standard as part of the Sustainable African Forest Assurance Scheme (SAFAS) which will seek re-endorsement by the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
OBJECTIVE
This is the 5 year obligatory review and re-endorsement process as required by the PEFC with the objective of ensuring national standards remain current and relevant to PEFC policy, national legislation, policies and changing practices and conditions in the country.
SCOPE
The standard forms part of the policies and standards of SAFAS which is administered by a National Governing Body (NGB) which is a member of the PEFC. The review shall be based on consideration of feedback received during the standard’s implementation and a gap analysis. If necessary, a revision of standards will take place with stakeholder consultation to obtain further feedback and input.
THE STANDARD SETTING PROCESS
The steps towards the revision are summarised in the table below:
| REVISION OF SOUTH AFRICAN STANDARD – TIMELINE | DATE | |
| 1.1 | Public announcement of revision in media | 03/10/2022 |
| 1.2 | Invite participation members of working group | 07/04/2024 |
| 1.3 | Announce participants in the Working Group | 13/05/2024 |
| 1.4 | Gap analysis and decision as to level of revision required | 15/05/2024 |
| 1.5 | Working Group to complete 1st Revision Draft | 30/05/2024 |
| 1.6 | Stakeholder consultation (60 days) (if full revision is indicated) | 01/06/2024 |
| 1.7 | Analysis of stakeholder feedback and 2nd Revision Draft | 15/08/2024 |
| 1.8 | Working Group approve final draft | 01/09/2024 |
| 1.9 | Submission of standard to PEFC | 15/09/2024 |
STAKEHOLDERS PARTICIPATION
Stakeholders can access the current version of the SAFAS forest management standard (SAFAS 4:2018) on https://safas.org.za/safas-standards-and-policies/
Comments to be submitted to the General Manager of SAFAS, Steven Germishuizen. steve@aes.co.za
Stakeholders are also invited to comment on the scope and process of developing the SAFAS Standard as described in the draft Standard Setting Procedures. These procedures are also found on the following link
https://safas.org.za/safas-standards-and-policies/
INVITIATION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE WORKING GROUP
Any organizations that would like to join the standard development working group can nominate representatives by sending a request to Steven Germishuizen by the 10th May 2024. These nominations will be accepted or refused based on the requirements for balanced representation of the existing technical working group. The working group must be prepared to review the Drafts of the Standard and provide technical input into the standard. This may be done by e-mail or they may be called to attend working group meetings. This is a voluntary process and SAFAS will not be able to cover the costs of working group members.
