The Chain of Custody standard is a standard that aims to provide all organisations in the wood or
forest products certification chain with the minimum criteria and requirements to implement
a credible system for the tracking of wood or forest products originating from certified
forests through all phases of ownership, transportation and manufacturing to the end
consumer.
Chain of Custody (CoC) basically tracks a wood or forest product from its origin in a
certified forest through to its end use as a wood or forest product by the consumer. CoC
covers all intermediate steps such as harvesting, transportation, primary and secondary
processing, manufacturing, re-manufacturing, distribution and sales. As such, CoC is an
inventory control system that provides a quality assurance standard.
This Chain of Custody Standard is intended for voluntary application by any organisation
that seeks to assure its customers that the certified wood and forest products they buy are
sourced from a certified forest. Its application will assist in ensuring or delivering access to
domestic and international markets that seek assurances on the origin of wood or forest
products from sustainably managed forests. With the increasing availability of recycled wood based raw material in the marketplace, this CoC standard also allows organisations utilising
virgin and recycled raw material to participate in CoC certification of mixed products.
Accredited, independent, third-party certification against this CoC standard provides a clear
statement that wood and forest products have been produced, in accordance with a set of
clearly defined performance requirements, from certified forests that demonstrate sustainable
forest management.
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