PEFC—Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes

Chain of custody and labelling

Chain of Custody certification

Chain of Custody certification is an assessment from an independent, qualified and accredited expert who verifies in writing that the wood flow accounting system applied by an enterprise to trace the flow of wood from certified forests through the enterprise, meets the exacting requirements of the certification scheme.

A wood-processing enterprise, business-to business customer/supplier, trader or retailer who has put in place an independently certified wood flow verification system can reassure customers that its product sources are verifiable. The chain of custody certificate and associated documentation will inform the customer about the proportion of wood in the products from certified sources.

To make the system work effectively for all in the industry, your enterprise should also have a certified chain of custody. Any enterprise interested in using a product label showing that their wood has come from a certified forest must have implemented and be using an independently certified system to monitor the origin of the wood.

The wood's origin can be traced in two different ways: by using a so-called percentage model (based on inventory control and the accounting of wood/material flows) or by physical segregation of wood. These can be applied to a batch of products, a single production unit or the operation of a whole enterprise.

Checking by an independent body

Certification of both forest management and chain of custody must be carried out by an independent, technically competent and impartial certification body. All certification bodies certifying against PEFC schemes meet international requirements for certification bodies which are defined by ISO (International Standardisation Organisation) documents. These standards (ISO Guide 62, 65, 66) define the:

• certification body's structure and its external relationships,
• rules for selection of competent auditors and technical experts,
• certification procedures including decision making process,
• rules for complaints, appeals, disputes, etc.

The certification body's compliance with these stringent requirements is verified through an accreditation process. This accreditation is carried out by national accreditation bodies which are fully independent from the PEFC Council and PEFC schemes and follow internationally recognised rules for accreditation defined by the International Standardisation Organisation (ISO Guide 61). The same arrangement and procedures are applied in the case of all credible, third party certifications such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and others.

Internationally applied standards for certification and accreditation and multi-lateral agreements between national accreditation bodies facilitated by IAF (International Accreditation Forum) or similar regional organisations assure that certificates issued by certification bodies in different countries are equivalent.

Product labelling

The PEFC provides a logo for wood-based products, allowing customers and the general public to make a positive choice for sustainable forest management.

The PEFC Logo is a communication tool that companies can use on their timber, paper and wood-based products to inform their customer base and final consumers about the origin of wood raw material.

The PEFC Logo can be used optionally on or off product (e.g. invoices etc) under license from the PEFC-Council, by those who have a valid forest management certificate or a chain of custody certificate to communicate to customers. Details on PEFC Logo usage are described in Annex 5 of the PEFC Technical Document.

The PEFC Logo usage license number must be used together with the Logo. PEFC has launched a fully interactive database on the world-wide web where anyone can search and find information on any certificate or logo license number relating to any forest or chain of custody certification in every PEFC-endorsed scheme.

For the PEFC CoC Standard, PEFC Annex 4, please click here.

For the PEFC Logo Use Rules, PEFC Annex 5, please click here.

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