Every company in the production chain must be FSC-certified
All companies involved in the product processing and manufacturing chain must be FSC-certified in order for the final product to be FSC-certified. Throughout the chain, only the seller of the final product, ie the retailer and the buyer of the FSC product, are exempted from certification. Only an FSC COC-certified company can manufacture, produce and sell FSC-certified products itself. This chain only applies to raw materials or products sold as FSC-certified. An FSC-certified company can also sell non-FSC-certified products.
Examples of production chains from forest to consumer:
- forest > sawmill > planing mill > furniture factory > finished furniture > shop > consumer
- forest > pulp mill > paper mill > paper merchant > printing house > book > bookstore > consumer
The certificate ensures the traceability of the origin of wood and the fulfillment of internationally agreed criteria. The prerequisite is the identification of suppliers and the origin raw materials, as well as the definition of product groups, calculation methods, responsibilities, processes and information systems.
Chain of custody certificate shows responsibility
Consumers and companies are more and more interested in the origin of wood and the interest is constantly growing. The number of FSC-certified companies is growing every year in the world, and growth is significant also in Finland. Certification of the wood chain of origin with FSC® certification can demonstrate responsibility. An FSC-certified product is identified by the FSC statement and certification code on the product's sales invoice or by the FSC trademark, the FSC logo, on the product itself or on its packaging.
Benefits of FSC Wood Certification
- Demonstrates corporate responsibility in the use of wood and wood products
- Enables the use of the FSC® trademark
- Facilitates market access for products
- Can be taken into account in the price of the product
FSC certification - for whom?
FSC COC certification is intended for the forest-based raw material processing industry and its traditional users have been the paper, board and sawmill industries. There are also many certifications of FSC origin in the printing houses, the packaging industry and the manufacture of various paper and wood products. FSC trademark can also be seen in the packaging of other industries or partly in wood products. Intermediaries of forest-based products and wholesalers are also widely covered by FSC certification.
FSC standards against which our customers have certified their operations
- FSC Origin of wood (FSC-STD-40-004),
- FSC Multi-site and group certification (FSC-STD-40-003)
- FSC Use of recycled material (FSC-STD-40-007)
In addition to those listed above, FSC Project Certification (FSC-STD-40-006).
The FSC standard and other documents are available: https://fsc.org/en/document-centre