A buying guide from GLF Pallet Group

PEFC for pallets and wooden packaging – traceability for buyers

Does your order for pallets or wooden packaging need to carry a PEFC claim? Include this requirement in your request for quotation. Check that the seller holds valid Chain of Custody certification and that the certificate covers the product. The PEFC claim must also appear in the sales or delivery documentation.

Author: Updated
View the checklist How to specify your requirement
Stacks of wooden pallets bearing the GLF name in Genarp.
Wooden pallets in Genarp. Check the PEFC status of your specific order.
01Company
Valid Chain of Custody certification
02Product
The certificate covers the product
03Claim
Documentation for the sale

A certificate or PEFC logo on a supplier’s website is not enough to verify a particular delivery. A certified company can also sell products without a PEFC claim. Your requirement therefore needs to carry through from the initial enquiry to the documentation for your order.

Understand the distinction

PEFC Chain of Custody

PEFC is an international forest certification system. Chain of Custody, or CoC, provides traceability through the companies that handle and sell the material. When buying, you need to distinguish between four levels:

Level What it covers
Certified forest management How the forest is managed under a PEFC-endorsed system.
The company’s Chain of Custody certification How the company manages material and information within the scope of its certificate.
The product ordered Whether the product ordered is covered by the certificate.
The specific sale Which PEFC claim the supplier makes for the product in your order.

What does claim mean?

The term claim means the supplier’s statement of the material’s or product’s PEFC status. It must appear in the sales or delivery documentation and be clearly linked to the product.

X % PEFC certified is a claim format. X is replaced by the certified percentage declared by the supplier. The format does not indicate a general certified percentage for GLF’s products.

The claim PEFC controlled sources refers to controlled sources and must not be treated as equivalent to PEFC-certified material. Check that the claim offered meets your purchasing requirement.

A PEFC logo can be used to communicate a company’s certification status. The use of PEFC trademarks is governed by separate rules and requires the appropriate licence. The logo does not replace the claim for the sale.

See PEFC’s own definitions of claims in PEFC ST 2002:2020 (PDF), section 3.27.

Documentation from GLF

Certificates and product scope in Genarp and Mielec

GLF Genarp AB and GLF Polska Mielec Sp. z o.o. hold separate PEFC Chain of Custody certificates. When the PEFC register was checked on 12 October 2026 both companies’ certificates and trademark licences were listed as valid.

PEFC Chain of Custody

GLF Genarp AB

CoC certificate
BVSE-PEFC-COC-006819
Trademark licence
PEFC/05-38-247
Operating address
Kontoristgatan 4, Genarp
Open the certificate (PDF) Genarp’s entry in the PEFC register
Register status
Certificate and trademark licence: valid when checked on .
Expiry date in the register
Printed validity period (PDF)
Until

GLF Genarp AB holds Chain of Custody certificate BVSE-PEFC-COC-006819 and trademark licence PEFC/05-38-247. The certificate lists Kontoristgatan 4 in Genarp and covers the trade in and production of pallets, sawn timber, wooden packaging and plywood. The PEFC register lists 22 September 2029 as the expiry date.

Read more about production in Genarp.

PEFC Chain of Custody

GLF Polska Mielec Sp. z o.o.

CoC certificate
SGSCH-PEFC-COC-070162
Trademark licence
PEFC/32-31-551
Operating address
ul. COP-U 3, Mielec
Open the certificate (PDF) Mielec’s entry in the PEFC register
Register status
Certificate and trademark licence: valid when checked on .
Expiry date in the register
Printed validity period (PDF)
–

GLF Polska Mielec Sp. z o.o. holds Chain of Custody certificate SGSCH-PEFC-COC-070162 and trademark licence PEFC/32-31-551. The certificate lists ul. COP-U 3 in Mielec and covers the specified manufacture of and trade in products including pallets, boxes, wooden packaging and components. The PEFC register lists 13 November 2028 as the expiry date.

Read more about operations in Mielec.

Both certificates specify physical separation. This method keeps different material categories and materials with different certified percentages separate or clearly identifiable throughout production and trade. It does not automatically result in a 100 per cent claim.

Certification applies to the named company and the operations covered by the certificate. These certificates do not show that other GLF companies or sites are covered. If your order involves another site, ask for confirmation that its operations are covered by valid PEFC Chain of Custody certification.

Supporting documents are available under GLF’s certificates and quality documentation. Also check the current register status before buying. A future expiry date on a copy of a certificate does not, on its own, show that the certificate is still valid.

From requirements to order

How to specify PEFC in your request for quotation

Describe the product and the PEFC documentation you need. For custom packaging and custom pallets the materials and components need to be specified. For plywood lids the assessment also needs to cover the design and any timber battens. A product’s inclusion in the range does not mean that all versions are supplied with a PEFC claim.

Custom wooden packaging with vertical slats and a load-bearing base, from GLF's custom packaging page.
Custom wooden packaging. The materials, design and PEFC claim need to be confirmed for the specific order.

Keep the requirement in place throughout the buying process:

  1. Specification. Specify the product, drawing or item number, materials, quantity and required PEFC claim. Also state any minimum certified percentage required by your company’s purchasing policy.
  2. Quotation. Ask for explicit confirmation that the specific product quoted can be sold with the claim you require.
  3. Selling and supplying companies. Check which legal entity is selling the product and making the claim, and which operations are involved in the order. The seller must itself be covered by valid CoC certification. Another group company’s certificate is not enough to verify the seller’s Chain of Custody.
  4. Product scope. Compare the product and materials quoted with the scope stated in the certificate and the PEFC register.
  5. Order confirmation. Ask the supplier to include the agreed claim and documentation requirement in the order confirmation. Agree which sales or delivery document will carry the claim.
  6. Delivery documentation. Compare the documentation with your order. Check that it identifies the correct product, claim and certificate number.

Example of a buyer’s request for quotation

A buyer could word the requirement as follows. The supplier needs to confirm whether it can be met for the specific product and order:

Please quote for 500 custom wooden pallets to the attached drawing, including the specified plywood components.

The product must be sold with a PEFC claim for certified content. Please identify the legal entity selling the product and the manufacturing operations involved in the order. Please also provide the valid CoC certificate number, the claim offered and the certified percentage.

Please confirm which sales or delivery document will carry the claim for each product. The documentation requirement must be included in the order confirmation. Before we place the order, please tell us if any part of the proposed solution prevents this requirement from being met.

Check the sale

How to check the documentation

The supplier must decide which documentation it will use for the PEFC claim. This could be the invoice, the delivery note or both. There is no general requirement for the same claim to appear on both documents.

For each delivery sold with a PEFC claim, the documentation must contain:

  • identification of the customer,
  • the supplier’s name,
  • identification of the product,
  • the quantity,
  • the delivery date, delivery period or accounting period,
  • the applicable PEFC claim for each product carrying a claim,
  • the number of the supplier’s PEFC Chain of Custody certificate.

The requirements are set out in PEFC ST 2002:2020, section 5.2.1 (PDF).

Check the certificate number, not just the trademark licence. For GLF Genarp AB, the Chain of Custody certificate number is BVSE-PEFC-COC-006819. Trademark licence PEFC/05-38-247 does not replace this number in the sales documentation.

If the same document covers pallets, pallet collars and lids, it must be clear which products the claim applies to. A logo in the document header is not enough to establish that link.

The claim also needs to use the correct language. For sales from Poland to Sweden, the official English wording is used under PEFC’s language rules. For sales within Sweden, an approved Swedish translation may be used. English may be used in both cases. See PEFC’s guidance on claims and language (PDF), section 3.27.

Ask the supplier to clarify and, where necessary, correct the documentation if the claim is missing, applies to the wrong product or names a company that does not match the sale. Investigate the discrepancy before using the documentation to report the delivery as PEFC-certified. A quotation or order confirmation does not replace checking the documentation for the actual sale.

Other requirements need their own evidence

What PEFC shows and what you need to assess separately

PEFC provides evidence of the material’s status and traceability within the system. Other requirements for the pallet or packaging need their own supporting documentation:

Purchasing requirement Documentation to request
Geographical origin Information that verifies the origin you require. A CoC certificate does not, on its own, show that the timber is Swedish.
Climate impact A relevant calculation for the specific product or delivery, stating the method and boundaries. The PEFC claim does not state emissions per pallet.
Loading and handling A specification, drawing and, where necessary, testing for the defined loading conditions.
ISPM 15 A separate assessment of the materials, destination, and treatment and marking requirements. PEFC is not a treatment certificate.
EUDR An assessment of the applicable requirements and documentation. A standard PEFC claim does not replace this assessment.

Buying with PEFC or FSC requirements

Buyers need to check the same main points in both systems: the correct company, valid Chain of Custody certification, a product covered by the certificate and a claim for the sale. PEFC and FSC use different claims and certificate numbers. For FSC, too, the claim and certificate code must appear in the sales documentation.

If your specification requires FSC, do not automatically accept PEFC as a substitute. If both systems are required, the supplier must confirm that the specific sale can meet both requirements.

Also read our buying guide to FSC for pallets and wooden packaging.

For your next order

Checklist from order to delivery

Include dimensions, drawings, materials, quantities and PEFC requirements in your request for quotation to GLF. This allows the product, selling company and documentation requirements to be confirmed before you order.

Request a quote

PEFC certificate

Open the original on GLF’s website (PDF)