PEFC and FSC

What is Chain of Custody?
Certification is provided through Chain of Custody management. This system is a way of tracking the timber from the forest through to the finished product, so that any end product can be traced back to the original forest in which it was grown. These forests are carefully managed to ensure that they provide sustainability which means in basic terms that as trees are cut down more are planted.

What it is certification?
It is a system which provides evidence that wood has come from managed sources and can be provided through a regularly audited paper trail which follows the wood from it’s source to the end user.

There are two forms of Certification for Chain of Custody which JCK Joinery is part of, the first is PEFC and the second is FSC.

What is PEFC
PEFC stands for Programme for the Endorsement of Forestry Certification.

The PEFC is an independent council, which is non profit making and non governmental organisation that promotes the independent certification of forests in a managed way, all over the world through third party certification. Covering over 20 national independent schemes all over the world and is a useful tool in combating illegal logging all over the world.

Forest certification is a way of proving that an enterprise has a system to track the wood flow in the production process all the way from the certified forests to a workshop or factory and from there onto the retailer. Together these certificates provide proof to customers of the origin of the wood used in the wood-processing industry. To be credible, the certification in both cases must be undertaken by independent third parties.

Within the wood flow verification system information can be recorded detailing the percentage of verified wood within a product. A standard percentage model is used for companies to work this out and when a product is labeled over 70% from Chain of Custody then it can have the PEFC Logo.

What is FSC?
FSC stands for Forest Stewardship Council.

The FSC was formed in 1993 with 130 representatives from a range of businesses and environmental and social groups. It aims is to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the worlds forests. This non-profit making organisation was borne out of concern for the worlds diminishing forests. The Organisation became operational within a year and was divided into three chambers which represented the environmental, social and economic interests which is governed by an international board.

FSC Principles and Criteria

Why do we need Chain of Custody?
This is a growing requirement and it is likely that in the future all wood will have to come from sustainable sources.
You can only sell FSC products if you are FSC registered in order to maintain Chain of Custody.
Gain access to tender markets and meet government procurement requirements.

Benefits of a certified chain of custody

Benefit to the company - improves access to markets. Customers are increasingly specifying timber from certified sources.

Marketing Benefit to company - demonstrates responsibility for and commitment to sustainable development.

Improve image for timber industry - create a wood flow accounting system to improve the image of the wood processing sector.

Opens up other markets - public authorities and enterprise procurement polices increasingly demand that timber that is used comes from sustainable sources, but they also require documented evidence to proof this.

REFERENCES

www.fsc.org
www.pefc.org
Forest Management (FM) Certificate
PEFC Information CD
PEFC Council Information CD
PEFC – The responsible choice for – leaflet
PEFC stands for the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification
FSC – Forest Stewardship Council
Guide to responsible timber purchasing - booklet