Identify the responsible parties to be involved

The following parties should be involved in the open consultation procedure:

• Any interested party for asking specific questions about PCR or to comment on PCR document subject for open consultation
• The Product Category Stakeholder Consultation Group for covering and handling specific issues to discuss related to the relevant product category under study/discussion
• The PCR moderator responsible for administrating comments and related services connected to the specific product category undet study/discussion during the consultation phase when creating PCR. The PCR moderator may also continue selected duties later on when the PCR document is subject for update.
• The programme operator responsible for administrating the website and cover any activity related to any PCR document during their approval, publication and updating phases.

Open consultations should preferably be carried out as an open internet-based participatory process making use of the PCR Forum. Open consultations can also, supplementary to this procedure, have  the form of a public meeting.

An open internet-based consultation via the PCR Forum expands the possibilty to broaden the participation of stakeholders from different parts of the world. The use of the PCR Forum  also has the advantage that it facilitates participation from interested parties having difficulties to attend meetings, e.g. NGOs and environmental groups.

A public meeting provides the possibilty for interested parties to actually meet and discuss the PCR proposal. It also gives the possibility for the company/branch organisation to early inform about upcoming EPDs to appear on the market.

A public announcement of the open consultation shall be presented on the EPD website and by the parties preparing the PCR as appropriate. It is therefore important for the PCR moderator to be in close contact with the Secretariat prior to the open consultation.

Invite/alert people to take part in the open consultation

Open consultation via the PCR Forum shall be carried out in cooperation between the PCR moderator and IEC secretariat to make the necessary preparations on the Internet. This cooperative effort involves:

• the preparation of the PCR proposal to be discussed,
• the launch of the document on the PCR Forum and
• the alerting of the persons involved in the Product Category Stakeholder Consultation Group that the PCR document is open for discussion and comments.

 Open consultation via public meetings shall be arranged by the parties involved in the preparation of the PCR. Aspects to consider include:

• Invitations should be sent to representatives for authorities, branch- or interest organisations, companies and organisations relevant to the product or service for discussion and other parties with an interest to take part of the meeting including all relevant international parties
• Possibilities shall be given to provide written comments
• An overall and understandable presentation of the EPD program shall be available for the audience
• Comments received at the meeting shall be documented and considered in the final version of the PCR proposal

Following changes or amendments in the PCR proposal as a result of the open consultation procedure, the PCR moderator shall submit a final version of the PCR proposal to the Secretariat for handling of the TC for approval.

It is the duty of the PCR moderator to make a short summary of the comments received and the resulting changes in the document and post it on the PCR Forum.