Chain of custody

Chain of Custody can track diverse wood supply chains.

PEFC Chain of Custody can track the wood raw material flows from certified and non-certified forests through the transport and production process and on to the final end-user.

In order to use a forest certification label on its products, a certified system for monitoring the origin of forest based wood raw material must be in place. This system tracks the wood flows used in the companies products from the production chain back to certified forests. The chain also tracks the origin of wood from non-certified forests and sets strict requirements on its sustainability and legality.

Chain of Custody can track diverse wood supply chains.

The proportion of certified material in the production and marketing chain can be monitored in two ways:

- In the percentage model products may be labelled as certified in the same proportion as the amount of wood that is certified. This is attested by inventory records during different stages of production and marketing. PEFC allows the whole production of a company to be labeled if 70% or more of the raw material is certified and strict requirements on the sustainability and legality of non-certified material are met.

The use of recycled wood fibre can also be taken into account. If the combined share of PEFC certified wood and recycled material together exceed 70%, the products can be PEFC labeled informing about recycled material.

- In the physical segregation of wood, batches from certified forests must be kept separate from other wood along the whole production and marketing chain. This is expensive and increases, for example, transports, and thus, negative impacts on the environment. This is why the percentage model is generally preferred.

The raw material used in any one product can originate from many different forests. On the other hand, wood from a single tree can be used as raw material for several products: the inner parts of the stem are turned into sawn goods while the outer parts are used as raw materials for pulp and paper, the bark is used for energy along with felling residues like branches and tree tops, and sawdust is used to make board products or energy. The chain of custody can track all of these products and verify its sustainability and legality.