Assessment of Chain-of-Custody Certification in the Czech and Slovak Republic

Hubert Paluš,Mikuláš Šupín,Roman Dudík,Ján Parobek

doi:10.3390/su9101898

Abstract

Forest certification is a voluntary verification tool that has been gaining importance within the global sustainability issues as an independent verification tool for sustainable forest management and wood processing industry and as an influencer in private and public purchasing policies and a component of emerging wood harvesting and trade legality schemes. This study focuses on the chain-of-custody (CoC) component of forest certification. A survey of CoC certified companies in the Czech Republic and Slovakia was carried out to explore the understanding of the concept and role of forest and CoC certification as an environmental, economic, and social tool. It aimed to determine expectations following from the implementation of CoC certification by companies and to identify difficulties in existing certified wood product supply chains and costs related to purchase and sales of certified forest products, respectively. Results indicate that respondents demonstrated a high level of understanding of the CoC concept and that they link forest certification mainly to the issues of legality, tracing the origin source of supply and promotion of sustainable utilisation of wood. The main expected benefits are linked to the improvement of an external company image followed by penetration of new markets and increase of sales volume. CoC is not considered a tool to improve internal company performance and efficiency. The key problems connected to certified supply chains relate to the sufficient quantity of certified forest products, low margins and overpriced certified material inputs. Respondents reported none or minimum price premiums for their certified products over non-certified alternatives. Several differences related to the understanding of the sustainable forest management concept and the level of price premium paid for certified inputs were identified between the PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) and FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified companies as well as between the different forest products sectors.

Highlights

Forest certification was initially introduced as a voluntary mechanism by environmental groups to ameliorate the consequences of tropical deforestation and forest degradation [1]
The main objective of this research is to analyse the current state of CoC certification from the perspective of certified companies in the Czech and Slovak Republics, with the focus on (i) understanding of concept and role of forest and CoC certification, (ii) the expectations of companies following the implementation of CoC certification, (iii) perceptions of any difficulties connecting to certified supply chains, and (iv) costs related to purchase and sales of certified raw materials and wood products, respectively
The objective of the research was to study the position and opinions of the CoC certified companies in the Czech Republic and in the Slovak Republic, aimed at the analysis of the understanding of the concept and the role of the certification, expectations of companies following from implementation of CoC certification, difficulties connected to certified supply chain and cost related to purchase and sales of certified wood products

Summary

Introduction

Forest certification was initially introduced as a voluntary mechanism by environmental groups to ameliorate the consequences of tropical deforestation and forest degradation [1]. Forest certification is a process by which forest owners voluntarily submit their forests to inspection by an independent certification body to determine whether their management practices meet clearly defined standards, those regarding sustainability [2]. It was quickly accepted as a means to promote sustainable forest management [3,4,5] and directly influenced forest management practices [6,7,8,9]. Companies that can prove that they are environmentally responsible by being certified may benefit by differentiating their products, potentially increasing market share [11], and gaining market advantage [12]. Ulybina and Fennell [15] suggested that certification is a signal to external stakeholders that enterprises are meeting high forestry standards or improving forestry practices and production

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