FSC & PEFC™ CHAIN OF CUSTODY & LOGOS

Some information here that some of you may find interesting, others certainly will not….

WHAT IS FOREST CERTIFICATION?

Forest Certification is a voluntary third-party process that forest owners, the forest industry and the entire production chain for wood products can use to show consumers that products are made from wood that comes from well-managed forests. A well-managed forest is one which is ecologically, socially and economically sustainable.


WHAT IS CHAIN OF CUSTODY?

Businesses need a reliable and credible mechanism to prove to their customers that their products have come from a responsibly produced source. Chain of custody is a method by which companies can show this
Through chain-of-custody certification, fibre from certified forestland can move through production streams, thus enabling the end product to receive a certified logo informing customers that the product came from a certified forest and was manufactured responsibly. 



WHY ARE THERE DIFFERENT CERTIFICATION SYSTEMS?
There are more than 50 certification programs worldwide addressing the many types of forests and tenures around the world. The two largest international forest certification programs are the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
FSC was established in 1994 in Mexico by conservation organisations such as Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and WWF.
PEFC was established in 1999 in Luxembourg by an alliance of small and family forest owners from France, Austria, Germany and Finland.
440 million hectares of forests have been certified under these systems. This equates to around 10.7% of the world’s forests. 

USE OF TRADEMARKS
Only companies that have Chain of Custody certification are allowed to use the FSC and PEFC trademarks labels to promote their products. The labels therefore provides a link between responsible production and responsible consumption and helps the consumer to make socially and environmentally responsible buying decisions.
Posted by scallaghan on 29th Jan 2021 - Latest News