| Criteria |
American Tree Farm
Systems |
Canadian Standards
Association |
Forest Stewardship
Council |
Programme for Endorsement
of Forest Certification Schemes |
Sustainable Forestry
Initiative |
THE
BASICS
|
| Basis for Company
Participation |
Voluntary |
Voluntary |
Voluntary |
Voluntary |
Voluntary |
| Scope |
Private, non-industrial forests in the United States. |
Focus on all forest types in Canada. |
Focus on all forest types throughout the world. |
PEFC is a mutual recognition body that endorses
national systems throughout the world. |
Primarily focused on large-scale forests in the United
States and Canada.
|
| Number of participants |
88,000 Certified Tree Farmers in 46 states. |
There are
25
companies in Canada with
79
forest management certificates. There are
0
companies with
0
Chain of Custody certificates. |
There are
927
Forest Management certificates and
7822
Chain of Custody certificates in
90
countries. |
PEFC Council has formally endorsed 22 national
systems. These cover 1121 forest management certificates and 3123
chain of custody certificates. |
In the United States and Canada, there are 219
program participants. |
| Total land area |
9.7 million hectares in the U.S. (24
million acres) |
75,913,732
hectares (187,586,917
acres) in Canada. |
102,662,186
hectares (253,683,787
acres) globally,
37,864,570
hectares (93,565,391
acres) in North America. |
200 million hectares (494 million acres)
globally. |
61,279,628
third-party certified hectares (151,425,258
acres) in Canada and the U.S. |
GOVERNANCE:
MANAGING THE SYSTEM
|
| Oversight |
National operating committee and individual state
committees. |
A 27 member Board of Directors.
|
The General Assembly consists of all FSC members who
fall into three chambers-economic, social and environmental. The Board of
Directors consists of nine individuals with three representing each chamber. |
A General Assembly and a Board of Directors consisting
of a chairman two vice chairman and between 2 and 10 members. |
The 15 member Board of Directors manages the standard
setting, fiber tracking, labeling and certification process. |
| Representation |
Tree farmers and forestry professionals. |
Academic, government, industry and consulting sectors. |
Academic, government, industry and consulting sectors. |
The General Assembly consists of representatives from
the 33 member countries reflecting major interest parties supporting PEFC,
geographical distribution of members and a gender balance. |
Evenly split among SFI program participants, the
conservation & environmental community and the broader forestry community. |
STANDARDIZATION:
DEVELOPING THE STANDARD
|
| Development |
Set by independent standards review panel consisting
of academia, environmental organizations, forest industry, forest owners,
professional logging community, and government. |
Set by a technical committee with representatives from
academia, government, industry and general interest groups. |
Set by national and regional standards working groups
with representation open to businesses, environmental groups, auditors,
individuals and government. |
PEFC national governing bodies cooridinate the setting
process, which is set by invited parties including forest owners, industry,
nongovernmental groups, unions and retailers. |
Set by the Board of Directors and implemented by the
Resources Committee with with two thirds of representation from academic,
government and conservation organizations and the rest from the forest products
industry.
|
| Scope |
Environmental and silvicultural issues. |
Environmental, silvicultural, social and economic
issues. |
Environmental, silvicultural, social and economic
issues.
|
Environmental, silvicultural, social and economic
issues. |
Environmental, silvicultural, social and economic
issues. |
| Public Input |
Subject to 60 day public review. |
Subject to public review. |
Subject to public review. |
The final draft of a system is subject to 60 days
public consultation as minimum. |
Subject to public review. |
| Approval |
American Forest Foundation Board of Trustees |
Standards Council of Canada. |
National Board and FSC International Secretariat |
PEFC Council assesses for purpose of endorsement. |
Board of Directors |
| Updating |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
ACCREDITATION:
AUDITOR QUALIFICATIONS
|
| Reviewer |
ATFS |
Standards Council of Canada. |
FSC Accreditation Unit |
The relevant national accreditation body which is a
member of International Accreditation Forum. |
ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) or In
Canada, the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) |
| Evaluation Process |
Voluntary inspectors subject to education and
experience requirements and completion of a national training curriculum. |
Task group reviews application and forest management
audit. |
Task group audits the applicant's office and audits
organizations that have been already evaluated by the applicant. |
A task group examines documentation, qualifications of
reviewers and dispute resolution procedures. |
Auditors application process which includes a on-site and witness assessment
process |
| Approval |
ATFS
|
An executive committee makes a decision based on task
group findings.
|
An executive committee makes a decision based on task
group findings. |
A separate group decides based on task group findings. |
The ANAB's independent Accreditation Council |
| Monitoring |
None |
Annually assessed. |
Regularly assessed. |
Annually assessed. |
Annually assessed. |
| Renewal |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
VERIFICATION:
JUDGING CONFORMANCE TO THE STANDARD
|
| Reviewer |
Voluntary third-party Inspector
|
Accredited third party auditor. |
Accredited third party auditor. |
Accredited third party auditor. |
Accredited third party auditor. |
| Evaluation
Process |
Inspectors review forest management plan and
operations. |
Audit team discusses scope of assessment with
applicant and conducts in field review.
|
Audit team reviews documentation, conducts a field
assessment and interviews relevant parties. |
Endorsed systems require audits that consist of a
documentation review and an on-site assessment. |
Audit team reviews documentation, conducts a field
assessment and interviews relevant parties. |
| Approval |
Approved by Voluntary Inspector. |
An executive committee decides based on audit findings
and assessment team's activities. |
An executive committee decides based on profile and
feedback from applicant and two impartial peer reviews. |
An executive committee makes a decision based on task
group findings. |
Audit team grants approval based on resolution of
non-compliance issues. |
| Public
Input |
No direct public input. |
Any member of the public can file a dispute if there
is a disagreement with the decision or ongoing compliance to the standard. |
Any member of the public can file a dispute if there
is a disagreement with the decision or ongoing compliance to the standard. |
External parties are allowed to provide submissions to
inform the audit. |
Any member of the public can file a dispute if there
is a disagreement with the decision or ongoing compliance to the standard. |
| Monitoring |
No requirements. |
Annual field review. |
Annual field review. |
Certificate holders are assessed annually.
|
Option to have a full audit every 5 years or regular
assessments over a 5-year period. Annual reviews required for product label
users. |
| Renewal |
Every 5 years. |
Every 3 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
Every 5 years. |
PRODUCT
TRACKING AND CLAIMS
|
| Material
Tracking |
None |
Chain of Custody tracks products from forest through
each stage of manufacturing and distribution.
|
Chain of Custody tracks products from forest through
each stage of manufacturing and distribution. |
Chain of Custody tracks products from forest through
each stage of manufacturing and distribution. |
Participants required to have auditable monitoring
system to account for all wood flows. Participants can also have Chain of
Custody certification to track products from forest through each stage of
manufacturing and distribution. |
| On-Product
label |
None |
Yes, three product labels: 1) 100% from a certified
forest; 2) product line from a certified forest with a minimum of 70%
certified; and 3) a product with a minimum 70% certified forest content. |
Yes, 3 product labels: 1) FSC pure label for 100%
certified product group; 2) FSC mixed label with a minimum threshold of 10%
certified and 60% post consumer content; and 3) FSC recycled label for product
groups with 100% post consumer content. |
Yes, but a minimum 70% certified content threshold is
required for a product to qualify to use the label. |
Yes, seven product labels are available. 1) a label
for primary producers 2) four labels for secondary producers. 3) 100% from a
SFI certified forest, and 4) SFI mixed label with xx% content from a SFI
certified forest. |
| Use of non-certified
sources in labeled products |
Not applicable |
Yes, prohibits use of sources that are illegally
harvested. |
Yes, prohibits use of sources that are illegally
harvested and derived from a high conservation value forest. |
Yes, but "non-certified" raw material shall not
originate from illegally harvested sources. |
Yes, prohibits use of illegally harvested sources. |
