Cedar Sales - FSC - Forest Stewardship Council

FSC Chain of Custody is an information trail about the path taken by products from the forest to the consumer including each stage of processing, transformation, manufacturing, and distribution where progress to the next stage of the supply chain involves a change of ownership.

Any change of ownership in the supply chain requires the establishment of effective Chain of Custody management systems at the level of the respective organisation and their verification by independent certification bodies, if the organisation wants to make an FSC claim about their products. Developing and implementing Chain of Custody management systems is a way for organisations to effectively control their processing system and show their customers the origin of the material in their products.

FSC certification of such management systems is designed to provide a credible guarantee to customers, whether business, government or end consumer, that products which are sold (i.e. invoiced and possibly labelled) with a specified FSC certificate code are originating from well managed forests, controlled sources, reclaimed materials, or a mixture of these. FSC Chain of Custody certification thereby facilitates the transparent flow of goods made from such materials through the supply chain.

An FSC Chain of Custody certificate provides information on the evaluated sites, processes and product groups from which such products may originate, and references the Chain of Custody standard(s) used in the evaluation by an FSC-accredited certification body.

Compliance with this standard provides a consistent, international basis for independent, third party verification of claims about the sourcing of wood/fibre material and products. It enables suppliers to demonstrate compliance with public or private procurement policies and specifications.

A key objective of this standard is to provide a pathway for organisations to both enter the FSC system and/or increase the proportion od FSC-certified input material to 100%.

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