Half of the timber harvested world wide is used to make paper. It is vital that everyone involved in this sector makes a commitment to responsible use of the world’s resources.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) offers a solution which enables you to demonstrate, through independent certification, that the paper products you sell or use in your business come from well managed sources and exclude the risk of using illegally logged timber or funding conflict. It also gives options for maximising the use of post-consumer recycled paper.

Further information can be found on our “FSC and the Paper Sector” factsheet.

Some more frequent questions

Q What is Chain of Custody certification?
A Chain of Custody (CoC) certification verifies that a product contains wood from a certified forest, sometimes including other controlled forest sources or post-consumer waste. Every organisation which forms a link in the supply chain needs it own CoC certificate, if the publication or product is to include the FSC logo, or any claim that the paper is FSC certified. See the Chain of Custody factsheet for more information.

Q What do the different labels mean ?
A The FSC system has developed three categories of certified product and the category of every product should be clearly identified on its product label or invoice.

FSC 100%
All the timber or fibre in the product comes from an FSC-certified forest

FSC Recycled
All the timber or fibre in the product is post-consumer reclaimed material.

FSC Mixed Sources
The timber or fibre in the product is a mixture of some/all of the following:
• Timber from an FSC-certified forest
• Post-consumer reclaimed material
• Controlled Sources, which exclude unacceptable forestry

Q I have bought some FSC paper for a print job but my printer does not have CoC. Can I just include a statement that it’s FSC paper without using the logo?
A No, because the name Forest Stewardship Council and letters FSC are our registered trademarks as well as the logo itself.

Q I am having books printed by a printer with CoC and they will have the FSC label. Do I need to have CoC too in order to distribute them?
A No, unless you are selling them to retailers who wish to make their own promotional claims about FSC. Please contact us for more details if this might be the case.

Q We are publishers who use several printers and other services such as print finishing and binding. Will each of these companies need its own CoC?
A Not necessarily, so long as you own the paper and books throughout the process. You as publisher could have a CoC certificate which covered the others as an outsourcing policy. We can provide full details on request.

Q All our marketing materials and business forms are produced by a printer with CoC and carry the FSC label. Can we make reference to this in our annual report or on our website?
A Yes. We can provide a Trademark Resource Pack to enable you to do this.

Q Our local printer has FSC CoC. Does this mean that all their paper is FSC certified?
A Not necessarily. You should always make it clear in your order that you want FSC paper and that you want the FSC label included.