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Certifications: SFI

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) program supports proper forest management and reforestation in North America. It strives to create balance between demand for wood products and sustainability. The program encourages both the continual growth and harvest of trees, as well as the protection of forest ecology as a whole.

The SFI program is based around their standard (SFIS), which lays out the compliance requirements of being SFI certified. The goals of the program are two fold. The first is to encourage participants to manage their forests in a sustainable manner. The second is to influence millions more acres by training loggers and foresters in sustainable forestry practices. The SFI recognizes that those in the forest industry who are not SFI certified still play a very significant role in the sustainability of woodlands in North America.

Benefits

SFI certifications are only awarded after thorough and rigorous independent audits. Qualified and accredited auditors perform these audits. The SFI maintains a separation between accrediting and standard setting. Becoming SFI certified shows compliance with strict environmental standards. In addition, SFI certified products are listed on the SFI website, giving recognition to environmentally responsible products.

The SFI has three types of certification:

• SFI forest certification: for forests in Canada and the US that are responsibly managed and pass an audit against the SFI forest standard.
• SFI chain of custody certification: for products made with certified fiber from production to the consumer.
• SFI fiber sourcing certification: for producers that use fibers and secondary products from certified forests and other well managed forests.

Qualification

There are varying requirements for the different types of SFI certification. There are some common core requirements including audits from accredited certification bodies and international standards based on ISO Procedures & protocols.

There are 5 steps to becoming SFI certified:

• Submit an Application for Completion on the SFI website.
• After SFI approves of the application, contact an accredited certification body.
• The certification body will perform an onsite audit with experts in fields such as forestry and wildlife conservation.
• Once approved by the certification body, the participant will submit a summary of its audit to be posted on the SFI website.
• The certification is valid for five years with annual surveillance audits. After five years, another comprehensive audit must be performed.

Certification Marks & Logos

Logo Usage

A mill that is SFI certified may use various SFI labels on their products. The SFI provides different labels for products with varying amounts of sustainable or renewable fibers. Printers are given SFI certification if the paper used is assured through a proper chain of custody. After becoming certified, printers can use the SFI logo on any of their print work that is printed on SFI certified materials. The SFI encourages designers to use the SFI logo on pieces they have printed by SFI certified printers. SFI certified printers will have SFI artwork as well as guidelines for how to use the artwork.

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