COC

What is Chain of Custody, or CoC certification?
Chain of Custody (CoC) is the process of tracking certified wood fiber from the forest to the mill, from the merchant to the printer. It ensures the integrity of the supply chain, so specifies can trust that the paper they print on came from responsibly managed forestlands.

Who needs to get CoC certified?
The chain of custody includes the entities that own the paper and materially change it before the identifying logo is printed on it. Typically, that includes paper mills, merchants, printers, and sometimes converters. It does not include print consumers, design agencies, transport companies, UV coating, and blister coating.

Do I really have to get certified? Can't I just print the logos or the words FSC- and/or PEFC- and/or SFI-certified?
The trademarked FSC, PEFC and SFI logos, or words identifying the piece as being printed on such papers, cannot be used unless that printer is CoC-certified. Without that certification, no claims can be printed about the content of the paper. That is true if the logo was supplied within a “print-ready” file. Even if the paper is certified and was purchased from a certified merchant, if a printer does not hold a CoC certificate and makes the claim, they have potentially subjected themselves to all the civil remedies available to trademark owners.

Does any agency track if the printers using the logos are actually certified?
SFI, PEFC and FSC vigorously protect their trademarks. There are no label police, but there are watchdog organizations intent on exposing companies who “greenwash,” or make environmental claims that are unsubstantiated by fact. They may pursue a course of action through the company who published the logo as well as the printer who printed it for their customer.

Can a non-certified paper merchant ship certified paper directly to a certified printer?
They can, but then it is no longer CoC-certified paper and no claims can be made.

Does Evergo label its certified products?
Yes, Evergo SFI, PEFC and FSC CoC labels are applied to certified products before being shipped to customers.

If paper is certified, what percentage of the pulp came from certified forests?
That is specific to the grade. SFI, PEFC and FSC have different label systems, but on-product CoC labels indicate the claimed percentage of certified content in that product. For more information, go to fsccanada.org and sfiprogram.org.

Is there a quality difference between certified and non-certified paper?
Certification does not speak to the quality of the paper, but assures consumers that it was sourced from well-managed forestlands.

Where can I find a comprehensive list of FSC-certified papers?
FSC Canada maintains a list of FSC-certified grades on their website, as well as a list of FSC certified paper manufacturers and printers.

Where can I find a comprehensive list of SFI-certified papers?
All papers manufactured by SFI-certified participants, are CoC certified when sold by xpedx. To view a comprehensive list of SFI-certified participants, go to SFIprogram.org.

Where can I go to learn more about CoC certification?
To learn more about the chain of custody, visit SFIprogram.org, and fsccanada.org

go back