FSC Chain of Custody Requirements

The main objective of chain of custody certification is to ensure that FSC certified material is tracked through the production process. In this way, end customers are able to select FSC certified products knowing there is a system in place to verify the sourcing of the wood.

FSC chain of custody requirements cover five areas :
1. Quality system requirements
2. Wood sourcing requiements
3. Production controls and record keeping requirements
4. FSC product and label requirements
5. Documentation requirements

This guide presents the key concepts for each of these five areas.
Full chain of custody requirements are described in the FSC chain of custody standart for companies supplying and manufacturing FSC certified products (FSC-STD-40-004). This brochure is not a substitute for the complete standart. Interested companies and the general public can obtain this standart at www.fsc.org, or by contacting an FSC accredited certification body.

The requirements described in this guide are for manufacturers and suppliers of forest products
This include :
• Companies producing sawn wood (e.g. beams and planks);
• Companies producing chip and fiber products (e.g. pulp, paper, chip board);
• Companies producing assembled products (e.g. furniture, plywood, fiberboard with a veneer face);
• Companies producing non-timber forest products (e.g. Brazil nuts).

Trader, agents, printers, publishers and others are covered by FSC policies and standarts.

New concepts
Several new concepts are introduced in the FSC chain of custody standart :
• FSC Product group
• FSC Pure material
• FSC Mixed material
• Controlled wood
• FSC Credit system

These concepts are described in more detail in this guide. Technical definitions of these and other terms are provided in the chain of custody standart FSC-STD-40-004.