What is the Chain of Custody for Beginners?

Chain of custody for beginners… and others: by BM TRADA Certification

Demand for certified wood products is growing rapidly in the UK as specifiers seek assurances that timber products used by them are sourced from well-managed forests. The process by which certified wood products reach the end user is known as chain of custody certification and is one of the leading issues with the UK timber trade today. Chain of Custody is the unbroken path which products take from the forest to the consumer, including all stages of manufacturing, transportation and distribution. It is the process by which certified wood products move from one link in the supply chain to the next without losing their certified identity. This is achieved by having a management system that can demonstrate how the identification of certified wood products is controlled throughout the time that the product is in ownership.

To give the process total credibility each operator in the supply chain, from timber harvesters, to sawmills, papermills, chipboard mills, timber merchants, joinery manufacturers and construction companies need to have their own independent certification. This means that any claims that suppliers make about the products they sell have been independently vertified. This builds confidence into the system and gives the end the user a guarantee that they can trust. Ultimately the timber industry needs to be able to give its customers the re-assurance that the timber products they are supplying have come from well-managed forests. Chain of custody certification enables this to be achieved.

One important aspect of the chain of custody process is that in order for an operation to sell certified wood products they need their own chain of custody certification. It is not sufficient to pass off the certificates of their suppliers as their own. At all times Specifiers and end-users should ask for evidence that the company supplying a certified wood product has its own chain of custody otherwise that product cannot be regarded as certified. Currently, two certification schemes prevail in the UK. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC). BM TRADA Certification can certify operations to both schemes and many companies in the UK timber industry have chosen this dual approach. Because the UK imports so much of its own wood we receive a real “mixed bag” of certified wood products from throughout the world. Within Europe, countries such as Finland and Norway are almost exclusively PEFC whereas Sweden, Germany and France can offer a combination of the two. The UK is predominantly FSC, primarily because the Forestry Commission has FSC forest management certification and this has enable UK-based board producers and timber suppliers to offer FSC certified products.

Elsewhere in the world FSC is the pre-eminent scheme but other schemes operate successfully as well, in particular the Canadian Standards Authority (CSA), the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) and the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) in the USA. Because of the increasing availability of wood products produced under these schemes BM TRADA has launched a third chain of custody certification scheme, the BM TRADA Forest Products Scheme. This scheme seeks to offer third party chain ofcustody verification for schemes that currently do not carry their own chain of custody in the UK. This will enable companies to offer third party verification for CSA, MTCC and SFI certified products thus increasing the availability and range of certified wood products available to the UK market. Recently John Boddy Timber Ltd became the latest company to acquire this third chain of custody system. The system requirements for the BM TRADA scheme are the same as for the FSC and PEFC schemes. Operations need written procedures and a system for maintaining identification of certified wood products though all stages of storage manufacturing, processing and sales. The scheme will increase the availability of certified wood products and ensure that demand for timber from well-managed forests continues to grow.

Alasdair McGregor
Product/Timber Business Manager
BM TRADA Certification
The e-Centre, Cooperage Business Village, Alloa, Clackmannanshire FK10 3LP, Scotland. Tel: +44(0) 1259 272142 Fax: +44(0) 1259 272144
E-mail: AMcGregor@stirling-trada.co.uk
Website: http://www.bmtrada.com Scope of accreditation: worldwide, chain of custody
only.

Other Accredited Certified Bodies
SGS Forestry QUALIFOR Programme
Ms Sharon Lamb
Tel: +44(0)121 521 3708
Fax: +44(0)121 521 3742
E-mail: Sharon_Lamb@sgs.com
Website: www.qualifor.com
Scope of accreditation: worldwide forest management and chain of custody

Soil Association Woodmark Scheme
Mr Kevin Jones, Bristol House,
40-56 Victoria Street, Bristol, BS1 6BY, UK.
Tel: +44(0)117 914 2435/929 0661
Fax: +44(0)117 925 2504
E-mail: kjones@soilassociation.org
Website: http://www.soilassocation.org
Scope of accreditation: worldwide forest management and chain of custody