COMPANY NEWS ARTICLE
GTE Achieve FSC & PEFC Certification
June 11, 2013
How does this affect GTE?
Implementing a chain of custody (COC)process is a fairly straight forward task that relies on everybody in GTE taking responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the chain.
GTE must first buy from companies that can supply FSC and/or PEFC timber and sheet material products.
Next, when that timber arrives at our factory, everybody involved in checking goods in must confirm that it has the correct paperwork
If it does, it can be stored in the normal way, in the space allocated for FSC or PEFC. If its COC status is not clear, GTE will check with the supplier why not and ensure that it doesn’t get mixed up with certified products
Next, when a customer asks for FSC or PEFC products, this will appear on all the GTE internal documents. All staff are aware of this fact and maintain their role in keeping a check on it.
When the material is ready for despatch, delivery notes and invoices must include the GTE COC code and include a description of the product as Certified.
Finally, Our auditors come once a year to audit the company, checking to see whether GTE are managing COC correctly, keeping records of purchases and sales and using the logos in accordance with scheme rules.
FSC & PEFC Certification
What is Forestry Certification?
What is Chain of Custody?
Why have Chain of Custody?
What are FSC and PEFC?
How does this affect GTE?
What is Forestry Certification?
Forestry certification is a voluntary, market mechanism designed to improve forest management globally. The idea behind it is that consumers will select products that come from well managed forests in preference to products from badly managed forests.
What is Chain of Custody?
Chain of Custody, or COC, Certification provides independent evidence that forest products originate from well managed forests.
It helps consumers, house builders, businesses and government departments make informed decisions about the timber products they buy.
Why have COC certification?
In the UK, COC certification is becoming an industry standard for companies buying and selling timber, panel products and paper products.
Central Government and private development projects require it
Increasing numbers of local authority contracts require it
Many large companies are increasingly buying certified forest products
More than 2000 UK companies have COC certification
Companies can use the trademarks to promote themselves as handling sustainable timber
What are FSC and PEFC?
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international network designed to promote responsible management of the worlds forests
It was established in the mid 1990s. Worldwide, more than 175 million hectares of forest in 81 countries are certified according to FSC standards and over 25,000 companies have FSC Chain of Custody certification
You can find out more about FSC on their website:
www.fsc.org
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is a framework for the recognition of forest certification schemes meeting internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management.
Since its launch in 1999, PEFC has become the largest certification umbrella organisation covering 31 national schemes from around the world with almost 244million acres of forest covered and over 8,800 COC certificates.
You can find out more about PEFC on their website:
www.pefc.org
Article by Simon Baldwin