Third Party Certified Schemes
For peace of mind for both our company and our customers, the most effective method of ensuring timber products are legal or are from well managed forests, is to ensure they carry an independent third party certification scheme. Herman Pacific currently purchases timber under the following chain of custody schemes:
Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®)
FSC is a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide. Its membership consists of leading environmental groups like Greenpeace and World Wildlife Fund (WWF). FSC would be considered one of the most well recognised certification schemes available by consumers. It provides a connection between the forest and end user; ensuring products that carry the FSC label uphold the principles and criteria which bring the highest social and environmental benefits.
For further information
www.fsc.org
Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC)
PEFC is one of the world’s leading and most used forest certification organisations. PEFC is an international non-profit, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting forest management through independent third party certification. PEFC is an umbrella organisation. It works by endorsing national forest certification schemes that are tailored to local priorities and conditions. Each national forest certification scheme undergoes rigorous third party assessment against PEFC’s standards. Currently Herman Pacific purchases timber products through the following PEFC endorsed programmes:
Herman Pacific also recognises a few legality programmes that do not carry full chain of custody but are considered an entry level certification and a stepping stone towards PEFC or FSC certification, where full chain of custody applies.
Canadian Standards Association (CSA)
www.csasfmforests.ca
Australian Forest Standards (AFS)
www.forestrystandard.org.au
Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI)
www.sfiprogram.org
Verified Legal Compliance (VLC)
Verified Legal Compliance (VLC) expands upon the VLO Smartwood Program. It not only ensures that timber harvested is from a legal source, it also takes into consideration other aspects of the harvesting and distribution of timber, including environmental protection, wildlife, water and soil conservation, workers health and safety and so on.
VLO is considered a step in the process towards FSC certification
CertiSource
CertiSource is a timber legality verification system, offering verified legal timber from Indonesia. CertiSource uses independent ISO accredited certification bodies to audit timber legality against CertiSource standard policies and procedures. Currently Herman Pacific imports some of its timber from Indonesia with CertiSource certification.