CSA—sustainable forest management standard
Chain of custody and labelling
CSA's Forest Products Marking Program: Your assurance that products come from a certified forest.
CSA Forest Products Marking Program starts with the certification of a forest to the SFM Standard, CAN/CSA Z809. Once it has been established that products come from a forest that is being managed in accordance with the CSA SFM Standard, these products are then tracked from their origin through all phases of ownership, processing and transportation to the end consumer. This tracking system is known as a "chain-of-custody". If all requirements are met, and verified through an independent third party audit by CSA, these products can then qualify to bear a CSA SFM mark. This mark will tell consumers that the forest products they purchase originate from a certified forest. These products can include everything from lumber, paneling or plywood, and pulp and paper to specialty forest products such as maple syrup and Christmas trees. With the advent of this new marking program, retailers, manufacturers, homebuilders and consumers who support responsible forest management will be able to more easily identify which products come from forests certified to CAN/CSA Z809 Canada's National Standard for Sustainable Forest Management.
Details on the CSA Chain-of-Custody Requirements
The chain of custody process is designed to chart the progress of forest products from their point of origin, the defined forest area (DFA), through all stages (chains) in the transformation process, to the point at which they are delivered to the final consumer as an end product. There may be one or several stages in the transformation process from tree to final product. Also, the ownership of the certified product may change several times throughout the transformation process.
The CSA-adopted PEFC Annex 4 chain of custody standard is designed to be applicable to any "chain" in a forest product chain of custody.
Examples of these chains may include, but are not limited to:
- defined forest areas that are registered (by an accredited registration organization) to the requirements of CSA Standard CAN/CSA-Z809;
- modes of transportation (carriers such as trucks, ships, booms, rail, and air) that carry or transport certified forest products;
- manufacturing or remanufacturing facilities that use certified forest products;
- warehouses, stockyards, and reloads that repackage certified forest products; and
- traders/brokers who do not have physical contact with the forest products but obtain ownership for a period of time.
- printers
Details on the CSA Label (The CSA refers to it as the CSA SFM Mark)
The CSA mark, which has appeared on millions of products, has given consumers confidence for decades. Over 80% of consumers recognize the CSA Mark, traditionally found on everything from computers to kettles and from toasters to hot tubs. Now CSA is introducing the SFM mark. Within the CSA Forest Products Marking Program there are three marking options. These marking options are based on how the inventory of certified forest products are managed. The marking options include:
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Use of the PEFC Chain of Custody logo
Source: CSA web-site at http://www.csa-international.org/certification/forestry/
CSA has chosen the internationally recognized PEFC Annex 4 Chain-of-Custody Standard. This allows a company with an underlying CSA SFM certification and a PEFC Annex 4 certification to access either the CSA labels and/or the PEFC labels (provided the label use requirements are also met).
| CSA Certified Forest + PEFC CoC Certification = |  |
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