Forest certification
Forest certification
The forest certification systems FSC® and PEFC are established in the countries around the Baltic Sea. Basically, international standards are applied. Representatives of the forestry industry, environmental organisations, trade unions and other interest groups affected by forest management in each country have reached agreement on a national standard. The national standard encompasses criteria (relatively detailed) which govern how forest management is conducted. Verification that forest management complies with the criteria is carried out in the field by external auditors.
FSC®
FSC® stands for the Forest Stewardship Council, an independent, international membership organisation that promotes the socially beneficial, environmentally friendly and economically sustainable use of the world’s forests.
The FSC® is represented in more than 80 countries. Market demand is driving strong global development of the FSC®.
The tool used is the FSC® trademark. The FSC® logo indicates that a product contains wood fibres from forests that are managed and harvested in a responsible manner.
The FSC® is vigilant in protecting its trademark. Those who manage their forests according to the FSC®’s rules or who process and deliver goods that contain wood fibres from FSC®-approved forests are inspected by independent certification organisations.
You can read more about the FSC®’s global work on www.fsc.org
PEFC
The PEFC certification
Certification means that there are guarantees that a product or service is made available according to specific quality standards, one standard. Certification has the greatest credibility when the guarantee is provided by an impartial organisation in addition to the seller and the customer. This is called third-party certification.
PEFC guarantees its customers and the general public that PEFC-certified forests are managed in accordance with the requirements for viable and sustainable forest management applying the official criteria adopted by Forest Europe which extends policy cooperation for forest management throughout Europe. In Sweden effective control of PEFC-certified forests, entrepreneurs and companies is guaranteed through the revision of third-party certifying organisations that have been approved by the independent accreditation agency Swedac.