FSC chain of custody requirements explained: video brief

Keeping certified material identified and correctly claimed

Chain of custody certification proves that a company buying, processing and selling forest-based products keeps certified material identified, counted and correctly claimed at every step it controls. The Forest Stewardship Council sets its requirements in FSC-STD-40-004, the core standard for anyone sourcing, processing, labelling or selling products as FSC certified; the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification sets its own in PEFC ST 2002. Forest management certification covers the forest itself; chain of custody covers everyone after it: the sawmill, the merchant, the converter, the printer and the brand. This short film sets out the FSC requirements.

The chain of custody management system comes first: responsibilities, procedures, training and records for everything the certificate covers. Material sourcing then requires confirming that suppliers hold valid certificates and that the claims on their invoices match what was ordered.

Handling, records, sales and legality

Material handling keeps certified, controlled and other inputs apart, or accounted for, wherever there is a risk of mixing. Material and product records, covering inputs, outputs and volume summaries, let an auditor follow a claim from purchase to sale. Sales require the correct claim and certificate code on invoices and delivery documents, and the standard also sets requirements where timber legality legislation applies. PEFC ST 2002:2020 covers the same ground in its own structure and terms.

Chain of custody is relevant to traders, converters, printers, packaging and furniture makers, sawmills and any business that takes ownership of certified material and sells it on with a claim. The current FSC standard is FSC-STD-40-004 V3-1, effective since 1 September 2021. Certification is evaluated and decided by an FSC-accredited certification body, or a certification body working to PEFC's requirements, and a business can choose FSC, PEFC or both, as a single, multi-site or group certificate.

FSC and PEFC are separate schemes with separate standards, logos and certificates; one audit can often cover both, but each scheme's rules apply to its own claims. Each product group uses one control system: transfer for batches kept separate, percentage or credit where certified and other inputs are mixed.