The main goal of the organization, initially called the Pan-European Forest Certification Council, was to develop a certification system that was flexible and could be adapted to different forest types and management practices, while still meeting rigorous environmental, social, and economic standards.

In 2000, PEFC made its first endorsements of the national standards used by Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany and Austria.

In 2005 the forest surface certified against PEFC standards reached 100 million hectares after joining of Canada.

National forest certification systems wanting to obtain PEFC endorsement are subject to an independent assessment to ensure that it meets the PEFC requirements for the standards development process, public review and forest management requirements.

In line with its commitment to transparency, PEFC makes its entire documentation of national forest certification system, including the independent assessments, publicly available.

[13] Countries with PEFC endorsed national certification systems include: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Indonesia, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Viet Nam.