This continuing series on forest product Chain of Custody certification is based on a simple idea:  CoC doesn't have to be complicated!  We have tried to illustrate this by breaking down the popular CoC standards (PEFC, SFI, & FSC) into their constituent parts.  Part 1 looked at the "guts" of CoC:  the nitty-gritty details of the invoices and packing lists that auditors are always asking for.  Part 2 outlines the ISO-based management system requirements that come along with the third-party...

A couple weeks ago, I introduced this short series of articles on Chain of Custody certification for FSC, SFI, and PEFC - all based on two ideas:  First, that CoC is too complicated, and second, that it doesn't have to be that way.  The first installment in my series took a look at the "guts" of chain of custody:  Inputs, Outputs, and Labels.  This second installment will look at the basic organizational infrastructure that your company will expected to demonstrate in order to get (and remain)...

In my last post, I introduced some of the basic concepts that define all of our Forest Product Chain of Custody standards - FSC, SFI, and PEFC.  In this installment  I hope to focus on the key central elements that - in practice - tend to get the most attention and (not coincidently) lead to the most confusion:  Inputs, Outputs, and Labels. Chain of Custody (CoC) is essentially and centrally about traceability.  The standards are designed to provide a buyer of a wood-based product (a piece of...

If there is one, central theme that runs consistently through the my commentary in this space, it is this:  our "green" certification programs for paper and wood products (FSC, PEFC, & SFI) are too complicated.  This is especially true for the Chain of Custody (CoC) standards.  It might be argued that effective and credible standards for something as challenging as the sustainable forest management (SFM) will always be complex.  But CoC (described here by FSC and PEFC) is meant to function...

I have made it a habit, in recent years, to use my visits to retail establishments as informal "market surveys" in support of my business.  When I shop for groceries, office supplies, and the many other "necessaries" of modern living,  I am always on the lookout for familiar trademarks of the programs I work with every day - FSC, PEFC, and SFI.  I also look for new and less familiar "green" labels and for novel combinations and unusual claims.  I have been doing this for long enough that the...

This post is the third and final in my short series, sharing and describing my feedback to the SFI program staff on the proposed updates to SFI standards for Forest Management, Wood Procurement, Chain of Custody, and Certified Sourcing.  SFI is conducting an exhausting and remarkably transparent review process this year, in anticipation of releasing a whole new set of standards which will take effect in 2015. I attended one of the public workshops last friday in Portland, Maine and came away...