ASTM International

Standard Practice for Categorizing Wood and Wood-Based Products According to Their Fiber Sources
 N D7612

Annotation

This practice sets forth minimum criteria and evaluation requirements for products employing the use of different systems to trace wood fiber to sources operating under different forest management or forest certification systems.

The purpose of this practice is to provide wood products manufacturers, distributors, and retailers with a system to provide clear, objective information to communicate to consumers regarding product conformance to different wood fiber tracing systems within specific forest management or forest certification programs. It provides a structure that segregates the different types of labels and tracing systems in use among major forest certification standards and other voluntary and regulatory standards governing the production of forest products.

NOTE 1—The principles in this practice apply internationally, provided that the required information is available to support categorization. For example, products certified to the globally recognized forest certification standards will meet the “Certified Sources” category regardless of their origin, and documented risk assessments (noted in Appendix X5) provide the basis upon which raw materials sourced from Canada and the United States can be deemed to meet the “Legal Sources” category. To categorize raw materials sourced outside of Canada and the United States as “Legal Sources,” it is recommended that the adopting entity develop supplemental provisions to address country-specific issues as needed.

This practice provides an objective basis to differentiate among:

Non-controversial (that is, legal) sources of forest products,

Responsible sources of forest products (that is, non-controversial sources together with certified procurement systems or from forests managed using responsible practices), and