The decision by the Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC) to endorse the global PEFC scheme under the Dutch procurement criteria, with the exception of the Malaysian MTCS scheme, is maintained.
The Board of Appeal has dismissed the appeal that WWF Netherlands, Greenpeace Netherlands and three other Dutch NGOs had filed against the TPAC’s re-endorsement of the PEFC scheme in June 2011. The decision marks the current outcome of a two and a half year dispute, which began in July 2010 when the NGOs filed a complaint about TPAC’s endorsement of the global PEFC scheme.
The group of NGOs had alleged that the umbrella system of PEFC International does not provide sufficient assurance that all underlying national PEFC systems conform to the Dutch procurement criteria. On 28 September 2012, the Board dismissed this argument. The Board finds that TPAC’s practice and procedures offer “sufficient safeguards and guarantees” for the Dutch market that national PEFC systems conform to the Dutch Procurement criteria.
The endorsement of the PEFC scheme under the Dutch procurement criteria has been disputed by the NGOs in several rounds of complaints and appeals by both sides. In May 2010, the NGOs filed a separate complaint regarding the endorsement of the PEFC-endorsed, Malaysian timber certification schemes. The MTCS scheme was subsequently re-assessed and rejected by TPAC. This decision was challenged by MTCS through an appeal, which was however also upheld by the Board of Appeal.
