TRACEABILITY OF WOOD

Forest certification emerged in the early 1990s on the initiative of the environmental movement. The background was primarily a widespread concern about the pace of deforestation in the tropics and disappointment that international policy initiatives failed to reduce the rate of deforestation. The aim was to create a market-driven and voluntary tool to encourage responsible use of the world’s forests.

The first independent certification organization founded was FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) in 1993. FSC has since been followed by several other forest certification schemes which PEFC™ (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes) today is the largest, in terms of certified forest area.

Pursuant to Kärnsund Wood Links Responsible Sourcing Policy, wood may not come from controversial sources. It must not come from illegal cuttings, areas of particular natural value (unless measures promoting biodiversity are involved), gene-modified trees or areas with serious social conflicts including violence and confrontation. Neither the wood may come from natural forests transformed to other use.

Wherever possible, we try to find certified alternatives. In most countries, the certificates standards demand a much higher level of consideration than the national laws require. The FSC and PEFC traceability standards together with EU timber regulation EU-TR 995/2013 contributes to minimize sourcing of illegally harvested timber. Illegally harvested wood is not permitted in certified products and are illegal to import to the countries of the European Union. Only approved and certified forestry owners, traders and producers can manage and sell certified products. Audits made by an independent external certification body ensure that the companies in the chain of custody fulfill the demands placed under the standards.

FSC

FSC^®

FSC is an abbreviation of the Forest Stewardship Council® and is an independent, international member organization that promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests. The origin of the forest tries to promote responsible forest management with a good balance between forestry, environmental and social interests.

Consideration is given not only to the environment but also to issues such as workers rights. Annual inspections of foresters, producers and trades in the supply chain are carried out by independent certification bodies that are accredited by FSC. To be able to claim the end user product is made by FSC-certified material, all the wood material must be delivered to the end user via an unbroken chain of FSC-certified companies.

Kärnsund Wood Link is since more than a decade certified for FSC Chain-of-Custody and FSC Controlled Wood. We have a large network of suppliers who can deliver FSC-certified products in a wide range of products. Kärnsund Wood Link is one of the companies in Sweden having most experience of dealing with and managing FSC-certified products. As a customer to us you can be confident that we can answer most questions related to the rules and management of FSC-certified products.
Please read more about FSC’s activities on their website through any of the links below.

http://ic.fsc.org

DOWNLOAD OUR FSC-CERTIFICATE

PEFC

PEFC™

The formation of PEFC was a response to the need for a system that took into account the small-scale family forestry special conditions. In 1998 the forest owners in Finland, Germany, France, Norway, Austria and Sweden, together with representatives from the areas of industry, started a collaborative effort to develop a common forestry certification for that purpose. It led to the Pan European Forest Certification Council (PEFCC) was formed in 1999.

By forming PEFCC a mechanism was created that allowed different countries to develop standards that were adapted to local conditions, while also following internationally accepted guidelines and requirements for sustainable forest management. Today, PEFC is the largest system in the world for forest certification in terms of certified acreage and dominated in the Northern Hemisphere.

PEFC warrant to customers and the public that PEFC-certified forests are managed according to the requirements for sustainable, conservation adapted forestry according to official criteria adopted in the European forest policy cooperation Forest Europe. Companies and industries that want to sell their products as PEFC-certified must prove that the wood comes from PEFC certified forests. To PEFC-label product, all suppliers and manufacturers from the forester to the finished product must be certified according to PEFC Chain of Custody.
Chain of Custody would require that each organization from the raw material in the forest to the commodity shall demonstrate that they have procedures in place that accurately indicates the proportion of the goods purchased from upstream certified. Companies holding a traceability certificates are also able to get a logo license to PEFC label their products.
Read more about PEFC activities on their website via the link below.

http://www.pefc.org

DOWNLOAD OUR PEFC-CERTIFICATE

EU TIMBER REGULATION EU-TR 995/2010

The Timber Regulation was legislated on 3rd March 2013 and is laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market and counters the trade in illegally harvested timber and timber products through three key obligations:

It prohibits the placing on the EU market for the first time of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber;
It requires EU traders who place timber products on the EU market for the first time to exercise ’due diligence’.
Once on the market, the timber and timber products may be sold on and/or transformed before they reach the final consumer. To facilitate the traceability of timber products economic operators in this part of the supply chain (referred to as traders in the regulation) have an obligation to keep records of their suppliers and customers.

The Regulation covers a wide range of timber products listed in its Annex using EU Customs code nomenclature.

To meet the requirements of the EU-TR Kärnsund Wood Link has implemented the traceability system Legal Source for all wood imported into the EU market. The system covers everything from the declarations of legality from suppliers, to risk assessments and documentation for each delivery. The aim is to minimize the risk of buying and reselling illegally harvested timber. To further minimize the risk of trading in illegal timber, purchase of certified wood is always the primary choice.

Read more about Timber Regulation via the link below.

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/timber_regulation

TRACEABILITY OF WOOD

FSC^®

DOWNLOAD OUR FSC-CERTIFICATE

PEFC™

DOWNLOAD OUR PEFC-CERTIFICATE

EU TIMBER REGULATION EU-TR 995/2010

It prohibits the placing on the EU market for the first time of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber;

It requires EU traders who place timber products on the EU market for the first time to exercise ’due diligence’.

DOWNLOAD OUR LEGAL SOURCE POLICY

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