SFI Standards and Certifications
The SFI program at large is made up of the following components.
SFI forest certification promotes responsible forestry practices. An SFI-certified program participant who owns or manages forestland is certified to SFI Requirements: Section 2: SFI 2010-2014 Standard, land management requirements set out in Objectives 1-7 and 14-20.
SFI chain-of-custody certification extends into the marketplace by tracking fiber content from certified lands and responsible fiber sourcing through production and manufacturing to the end product. These claims can be made based on either the physical separation or percentage-based methods. To be certified, companies must be audited to SFI Requirements: Section 3 – SFI Chain-of-Custody Standard.
SFI fiber sourcing certification addresses the 90 percent of the world’s forests that are not certified. Program participants must show that the raw material in their supply chain comes from legal and responsible sources, whether the forests are certified or not. To meet the fiber sourcing requirements, primary producers must be third-party audited and certified to SFI Requirements: Section 2 – SFI 2010-2014 Standard (Objectives 8-20). Secondary producers who want to use the “certified fiber sourcing” label must be certified to SFI Requirements: Section 4 – Rules for Use of SFI On-Product Labels.
SFI labels are recognized globally and provide a visual cue to help customers source certified forest products. In order to use any of the SFI labels, the company must be certified to Section 2 – SFI 2010-2014 Standard, Section 3 – SFI Chain-of-Custody Certification or Section 4 – Rules for the Use of SFI On-Product Labels, and have approval from the Office of Label Use and Licensing.
SFI program requirements are audited by independent, third-party certification bodies to ensure they conform.