What is FSC?

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established in 1993 as a response to global deforestation. The Forest Stewardship Council has changed the dialogue about and the practice of sustainable forestry worldwide. FSC sets forth principles, criteria, and standards that span economic, social, and environmental concerns. The FSC standards represent the world's strongest system for guiding forest management toward sustainable outcomes.The national chapter of the FSC is located in Minneapolis, MN.

What is the Chain of Custody System (CoC)?

The FSC chain of custody system (CoC) tracks FSC certified material through the production process - from the forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution. The CoC is kept "in tacked" when all material suppliers of wood products are FSC certified suppliers.

What are FSC Certified Products?

FSC Certified Products are any wood products that are sold with an FSC claim by a FSC organization that has been assessed by an FSC accredited certification body for conformity with FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) requirements. FSC materials include:

• Solid wood lumber or dimension stock or wood components, e.g., cleats and blocks
• Wood veneers and Gator-Ply backer material
• Composite board, e.g., flakeboard or Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF)
• Tack boards
• Drawer components, and wrapped base components and crown rails

Many of the finished office products manufactured by DARRAN from FSC certified materials can be offered as FSC certified products. DARRAN Customer Service must be contacted to make a determination regarding the ordering of FSC certified products.

What is Controlled Wood and can it be used in FSC Certified Products?

Controlled Wood refers to virgin material that originates in non FSC certified forests. The wood must conform to strict requirements to insure that the wood is legally harvested from non threatened forests and conservation practices are not at risk. Controlled Wood can be used in FSC Certified products.

What does the FSC claim of "FSC Mixed" mean?

The FSC claim of "FSC Mixed" refers to products that contain a mixture of wood or fiber from all or some of the following sources:

• FSC Pure, FSC Mixed, FSC recycled or FSC Controlled wood
• Verified reclaimed material

The "FSC Mixed" claim will appear on the customer order and invoice as FSC Mixed 94%, meaning that 94% of the wood content is FSC Certified and 6% of the wood is "Controlled".

Can we label our products as FSC certified?

Yes, we can attach a physical label to the product as long as we meet certain criteria. The products produced by DARRAN can be labeled as FSC Mixed Sources or FSC Mixed Sources 94% provided that the material percentage is a minimum of 70%. The use of any FSC trademark or label must be approved by our third party certification body, Scientific Certification Services (SCS).

Can a customer order only FSC certified wood veneers and or plywood core material?

Yes, customers have specified that the finished product from DARRAN contain only FSC certified wood veneers and or plywood core material. Product specified as such are not considered to be FSC certified product and cannot carry a corresponding FSC claim or FSC label.

Can a customer earn points from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) organization?

Yes, customers may earn LEED points for a particular project as described in the LEED Material & Resource Credit MR-7 for certified wood.