Public comment has opened on the first amendment to the standard governing certified sustainable forests across Australia and New Zealand, with the revision drafted to bring the scheme into line with the European Union’s deforestation regulation. That is according to Responsible Wood, the standards development organisation behind AS/NZS 4708 and the body that administers PEFC-endorsed certification across both countries.
The standard sets out the requirements forest managers must satisfy to certify their operations as sustainable, anchoring the Responsible Wood Certification Scheme in Australia whilst forming the basis of the PEFC-recognised scheme in New Zealand. Reviewed every five years and last updated in 2021, the document governs certification across 17 million hectares of Australian forest and a further 600,000 hectares across the Tasman, and has been redrafted by the organisation’s Standards Reference Committee.
Responsible Wood CEO Simon Dorries said the review kept the standard aligned with evolving industry practice, scientific knowledge and stakeholder expectations across the sector: “Sustainable forest management impacts a wide range of people and sectors,” Dorries said.
The amendment responds to changes in the PEFC International benchmark PEFC ST 1003:2024, rewritten to align the global certification system with the European Union Deforestation Regulation, alongside feedback gathered since the last revision. The consultation follows Responsible Wood’s move last year to begin redrafting the standard to meet the incoming EU rules.
Drawn from forest managers, researchers, auditors, government, environmental groups, Indigenous stakeholders, industry and unions across both countries, the committee prepared the draft under Standards Australia procedures, with Responsible Wood accredited as a standards development organisation in both markets.
Dorries said the consultation gave forest managers, manufacturers, builders, designers, retailers, environmental groups and communities a direct hand in shaping responsible forest management on both sides of the Tasman.
Responsible Wood has set 7 August as the deadline for submissions, with the draft standard and submission form available ahead of the committee finalising the revision under the PEFC system, which it describes as the world’s largest.
