An article by Alasdair McGregor, Manager, Timber Certification Services, BM TRADA Certification, published in TRADA Timber Industry Yearbook 2000.
Independent verification that timber is obtained from sustainable sources is being demanded, not only by the ‘green’ consumer lobby, but increasingly through government procurement requirements for major projects, especially those attracting public funding.
The choice of materials for major construction projects is now influenced by environmental concerns. As a renewable material, timber has major advantages in this respect but these need to be demonstrated. Sustainable production has to be proved and demonstrable proof lies in third party certification.
What is timber certification?
Timber certification is generally regarded as involving a 2-stage process, encompassing both forest management certification and wood product and “chain of custody” certification.
Forest Management Certification
involves the independent third-party assessment of forest management practices according to a set of predetermined standards covering a combination of formal management procedures, a structured long-term management plan, and a measurement of these against actual forest management practices in the field.
Wood Product Certification or Chain of custody certification is the second stage in the process:
Chain of Custody Certification
Chain of custody certification applies to the labelling of products for which claims of origin or provenance are being made. It is effectively a traceability process to prove or verify that a product bearing a label lives up to the claims being made on that label. For wood products, in its most common form chain of custody is the process that enables those products to be verified as having come from well-managed forests.
Chain of custody also provides the evidence to show that forests are being well-managed. Public concern about the state of the world’s forests is increasing principally because the public has very little evidence to help them make rational decisions about whether or not to buy timber products. Chain of custody linked to a credible third party forest certification scheme can provide that help because it is the public’s guarantee that timber products which bear the label are derived from well-managed forests.
In the UK the only credible form of chain of custody verification that is currently available is through the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), see below. Companies that are certified to the FSC chain of custody programme are able to label their wood products with the FSC logo. To become FSC certified companies have to undergo an assessment by a certification body to ensure that they have documented management procedures and process control systems that verify that the wood products bearing the FSC label have been derived from FSC certified forests.
Companies who already have ISO 9000 Quality Systems should have little difficulty in acquiring FSC chain of custody certification. They will already have documented management procedures, staff who have been trained in the operation of the system and who will be used to the discipline of third party audit.
As forest management certification moves more into the mainstream of the timber industry, demand for chain of custody certification will undoubtedly grow. Certification will become a vital marketing tool in promoting the timber industry’s good environmental credentials. TRADA Technology Ltd and FIRA are available to provide consultancy and training services for chain of custody. Thereafter, BM TRADA Certification can undertake the assessment and certification of timber and furniture operations to the FSC chain of custody standard.
Timber Certification - the main players
Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council is the only global forest certification body offering independent third-party verification of forest management and timber products. It was formed in 1993 by environmental pressure groups such as World-wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Friends of the Earth (FoE) and Greenpeace, together with social and economic interest groups. It has grown dramatically and now has many mainstream timber industry organisations in membership. Despite this however, a very small proportion of the world’s forest (some 17million hectares) is certified and FSC-labelled wood products are still relatively rare.
The FSC has drawn up a set of International Principles and Criteria of what it considers to be good forest management. These are the guidelines that organisations must follow if they wish to receive FSC certification. The FSC does not itself conduct certification but accredits Certification Bodies to undertake the assessment of forests and timber processing operations and licenses them to issue its label to certificate holders.
In summary, the FSC Principles require that certified organisations must:
Comply with local and international laws and the FSC principles
Respect tenure and use rights and responsibilities
Respect and recognise indigenous peoples’ rights
Maintain community relations and workers’ rights
Encourage the efficient use of all the forest’s benefits: economic, social and environmental
Conserve biological diversity to maintain the ecological functions of the forest
Produce and maintain a 20-year management plan - stating the long-term objectives for the forest and the means of achieving them
Undertake ongoing monitoring and assessment of the management plan, chain of custody, management activities and their social and environmental impacts
Maintain and conserve primary forests, well-developed secondary forests and areas of major environmental, social or cultural significance
Ensure that plantation forestry is planned and managed in accordance with Principles 1-9.
The FSC label is now found on doors, mouldings, garden furniture, shelving, charcoal, sheet materials and solid timber as well as on paper products including kitchen rolls and toilet tissue. Also, if you look closely, you will see the logo displayed almost subliminally in TV shows such as Eastenders, Changing Rooms and Groundforce.
The WWF 1995plus Group of Companies is a buyers group set up by WWF in 1994 to promote the concepts of ethical purchasing and forest certification. All members of the 1995plus Group are committed to buying their wood products from certified sources. The Group has 95 members and claims to account for approximately 20% of all UK timber purchases. It includes some very high profile companies such as Sainsbury, Homebase, B&Q, Boots, WH Smith, BBC Publications and major timber companies such as Meyer International, Kronospan, Timbmet and FW Mason.
WWF’s rationale in forming the 1995plus group was to create a market demand for FSC certified wood products to pull the issue forward into the market rather than use the activities of the environmental pressure groups to force certification on a reluctant industry. This tactic is beginning to bear fruit as many members, B&Q in particular, are adopting a very tough position with their suppliers over FSC labelled products. Companies which have already achieved certification have been successful in increasing their customer base and improving their market access.
So far, the 1995plus Group has been the strongest advocate for the FSC labels but other initiatives are beginning to develop.
The Pan-European Forest Initiative (PEFC) is an initiative started by a network of European forest owners and launched in 1999. PEFC believes that there is room for more than one label in the marketplace and wishes to offer a framework whereby credible certification schemes can gain mutual recognition. The arrangement would be similar to strength grading where different methods of grading in different countries are deemed to be equivalent to one another for certain structural conditions.
PEFC, through a network of national accreditation bodies will draw up the mutual recognition criteria and thereafter will judge each applicant scheme on that basis.
The UK Woodland Assurance Scheme (UKWAS) may be the most important development in the British Forestry Industry for a generation if it fulfils its expectations. UKWAS is an independent forest management scheme developed in 1998 – 99 by the UK forestry community (Industry, Government, social and environmental groups). It follows the FSC Principles and FSC have participated in the process but it is not owned or controlled by FSC. However FSCUK have deemed that it satisfies all the requirements of the FSC scheme and therefore, pending approval by the international FSC Board, any organisation which applies for certification under UKWAS, and is certified by an FSC accredited body, will have access to the FSC label.
UKWAS was launched on 3 June 1999 with the full endorsement of FSC and the 1995plus Group. It is a bona fide third-party scheme and will be managed by a steering committee serviced by the Forestry Commission.
