Requirements for chain of custody

All voluntary legality verification systems include chain of custody control requirements through the supply chain, from the forest source to the point of supply. A key requirement for this is that companies are not allowed to mix verified and unverified materials during processing storage and transport. Some systems (SmartWood and BV) allow mixing of other verified materials.

Under the SmartWood system, ‘only products containing 100% verified material (or material verified or certified against an equivalent or higher level standard approved by SmartWood are eligible for SmartWood claims’. BV, however, allows mixing of ‘acceptable timber’ with verified timber. ‘Acceptable timber’ includes Keurhout Legality and/or Sustainability, and the forest certification schemes FSC, PEFC, SFI, CSA and MTCC. In addition, a suppliers assessment programme is also considered as acceptable. In this case, the company applying for OLB certification carries out assessment on its suppliers. This is essentially a second party audit and there is no guarantee that the assessors have the required skills or experience to carry out the check on its suppliers and therefore that verified legal compliance (VLC) is ensured.