What is Certification?

Sustainable forest management (SFM) gained prominence as a global concern at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit). Since the conference, governments, industry and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have introduced initiatives to promote SFM at the international, national and regional levels. Certification has emerged as an important tool, among several options, to help forestry companies promote and communicate a commitment to sustainable forest management to external audiences.

Certification provides independent, third-party verification that a forest company is operating according to a set of principles and criteria determined by a particular certification program.

Certification has been applied to other sectors for years, such as labelling consumer safety products. However it is only in the last decade that its use has been promoted for the forest sector, first for tropical forests, and more recently temperate and other forests. The parameters and expectations of various forestry certification programs may vary a great deal.

Certification’s credibility comes from forestry practices being audited by an independent third party. It is a voluntary process, meaning that it is not regulated or legislated by governments, but something a company would pursue for its own reasons. Some certification programs have an actual label that is displayed on the product (eco-labels) to show buyers that the wood has been certified by a specific certification program.

How Does Certification Relate to Sustainable Forest Management?

Sustainable forest management recognizes both the environmental and socio-economic values of forests. The international community is engaged in a number of processes to help promote SFM world wide, including the development of criteria and indicators for SFM, and discussions towards a global convention on forests.

The overall goal of various international SFM processes is to establish fair, objective, and globally-applicable standards for sustainable forest management.

Governments, NGOs, and the industrial sector have different tools at their disposal to promote SFM. Governments, for example, can create protected areas, introduce new forest management rules, restore damaged forest ecosystems, promote an expanded value-added sector, and involve communities in forestry activities.

The effectiveness of certification in promoting sustainable forest management is still to be proven. The position of governments in Canada is that certification should support, promote, and complement other forest sustainability and stewardship efforts.

What Certification Systems Are There?

There are many forest-related certification systems available world-wide, with many more evolving. At this point it is not clear which systems will predominate in the future, and therefore it is important to continually monitor trends and assess market preferences. At this point five programs have the most significance for BC forestry companies: ISO 14001, FSC, CSA Z809, PEFC and SFI. A brief overview of each system and its significance to BC is provided below.

ISO 14001

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a world wide federation of national standards bodies, headquartered in Switzerland, whose mission is to promote the development of voluntary standards that will facilitate international trade. ISO standards are some of the most widely recognized in the world. ISO 14001 is a standard that permits the certification of an environmental management system (EMS). This standard is applicable to all industries and is not specific to forestry. The ISO 14001 EMS standard provides a framework for a company to identify how and where its activities, products and services can have an environmental impact. The company then uses this information to measure and improve its environmental performance. ISO requires a company to adhere to relevant legislation and to make a commitment to continual improvement in its environmental performance, however it does not dictate actual performance measures.

Significance to BC:

• ISO is one of the most widely recognized international standards bodies in the world;
• Japan, which is BC’s second largest lumber customer, has had the most rapid adoption of the ISO 14000 series in the world. Europe and the USA are also showing growing uptake of the ISO standards;
• ISO can be used with other more sector-specific requirements. For example, CSA Z809 is one program which was developed to fit with ISO requirements.

CSA Z809

The Canadian Standards Association (CSA) is a national standards-writing organization, based in Toronto, that develops national standards and certification programs in a range of technical fields. The CSA worked with the Canadian forest industry and other stakeholders to develop the CSA Sustainable Forest Management Standards that were approved in 1996. The CSA Z809 SFM System standards are consistent with the management system-based approach used in ISO 14001. According to the CSA standards, forest companies must set in place a comprehensive SFM system and establish on-the-ground performance objectives. As a minimum, they must address 21 critical elements set by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers in the National Forest Strategy in 1992 and address local values identified in a public participation process. Applicants seeking to certify a defined forest area (DFA) through the CSA must undergo an independent third-party audit of the management system and field inspections to confirm the attainment of performance objectives.

Significance to BC:

• Canadian developed forestry certification program;
• MacMillan Bloedel was the first company to achieve CSA Z809 certification for one of its operations in 1999;
• Has the potential to be recognized by umbrella programs such as PEFC in Europe. These programs have an eco-label that could be used in the marketplace.

FSC

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO), headquartered in Mexico. It was founded in 1993 by representatives of environmental groups, the timber trade, the forestry profession, indigenous peoples organizations, community forest groups and forest product certification organizations. The stated purpose of the FSC is to establish world-wide principles of environmentally appropriate forest management, and to accredit organizations that can certify that individual forests are managed according to their 10 forest management principles. In Canada there are a number of FSC working groups, including one in BC, to develop regional FSC standards. A company would certify to the relevant regional FSC standard, however in the absence of a regional standard a forestry company may be certified according to a certifier checklist developed according to the the international FSC standard but adapted for the particular forest region. 

Significance to BC:

• FSC is the program most widely recognized and endorsed by ENGO’s (environmental non-government organizations);
• Some established buyers groups are committing to eventually purchase only wood that is certified by FSC or programs endorsed by FSC;
• This is one of the only programs to date that has a label that can be used in the marketplace.

The Pan European Forest Certification (PEFC) system is a framework that was established in Europe to accredit national/regional forestry certification programs and grant them use of the PEFC eco-label. A forestry company cannot certify to PEFC per se, but rather a company would certify to a program that is recognized by the PEFC. This program was initiated by private forest land-owners in Europe who believed that government policies already set significant forest policy, including monitoring and enforcement requirements that should be recognized within certification systems. PEFC wants to enable countries and/or regions to develop their own forestry certification schemes, which cater to their unique ecological and ownership patterns, while still meeting the pan-European criteria for SFM.

Significance to BC:

• The PEFC has the potential to recognize Canadian certification systems such as CSA Z809, and then firms certified to CSA Z809 would be able to use the PEFC logo;
• This program seems to be emerging as one of the most significant alternatives to FSC in Europe.

SFI

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is a program of the American Forest and Paper Association (AFPA), an association that represents 205 companies and 44 associate members in the United States. In response to certification pressures, the AFPA developed the SFI program which has 12 principles and 30 performance measures to which all companies that are members of AFPA must subscribe. Companies decide themselves whether to do self-verification, have another firm verify compliance, or select an independent third party. There is little governmental involvement in certification in the US to date, and as such this is currently the most significant U.S. program.

Significance to BC:

• The USA is BC’s largest customer for wood products, and the SFI program seems to have the most prominence in the US market;
• If USA customers begin to require certified product, SFI may become their program of choice, and then it will be important for Canadian companies to demonstrate equivalence to the SFI program;
• Many BC companies have USA ownership, and some USA firms are requiring that all their operations (USA-based and foreign subsidiaries) conform to SFI specifications.

BC and Certification

A number of buyers groups and some individual companies are moving towards the exclusive use of certified forest products. Over the past few months, some European customers have informed BC suppliers and the BC government that, in order to maintain competitiveness in the European marketplace, forest products will soon have to be certified and may require an label demonstrating their environmental friendliness.

BC companies are now entering into the process of demonstrating that they are able to meet or surpass the requirements of any forest certification system which is credible and objective and is based on consistent, globally-applicable standards. ISO 14001 certification has been achieved by many BC forestry companies and a BC company was the first in Canada to receive CSA Z809 certification. Many more BC companies are currently in the process of certifying their forest operations.

BC Government Position on Certification

The management of the majority of Canada’s public forests is the constitutional responsibility of provincial governments who are mandated to ensure that public forests are managed sustainably.

As a market instrument, certification operates outside of the regulatory framework established by governments. However, government has a specific interest in certification because it has the inherent potential to affect access to markets, reinforce sustainability requirements for forest management, and support or contradict domestic and international legislative and policy goals.

In British Columbia, government has stated that it supports voluntary certification in the marketplace if certification will support real progress in SFM. Government wants to ensure that certification is based on standards that are equally challenging and meaningful for all jurisdictions, and that certification systems are compatible with definitions, standards, and processes developed domestically and in the international arena. It is the British Columbia government’s position that standards and eco-labelling schemes should not become a means of protectionism or create unfair trade barriers to BC exports.

The British Columbia government has provided technical expertise to the development of the ISO and the CSA-SFM Standards. Although governments cannot be members of the Forest Stewardship Council, we continue to be involved in the FSC process for developing BC regional standards.

The British Columbia government is encouraging the provincial forest sector to take a strong role in ensuring the development of certification systems that are appropriate for British Columbia and will be effective marketing tools in the international marketplace. While government can and will play an important role in finding a practical solutions for all interests, it cannot be the sole or necessarily even the leading player on this issue.

The British Columbia government is committed to working with industry, non-governmental interests, customers, and others to ensure that practical solutions on certification are developed which support and demonstrate BC’s sound sustainable forest management practices and that are accepted in international markets.

April 2002