The 2008 amendment to the US’s original 1900 Lacey Act brought in the world’s first ban on trade in illegally sourced wood products. The US operates some of the most stringent and regulated forestation practices in the world and its certified wood products are sourced from only sustainably managed resources. 

These forestation practices have been officially recognised by one or more of the five systems for the certification of sustainable forestry management and its supply chain. Certification requires evidence of the ‘Chain of Custody’ (CoC), being able to track certified material from the forest to the final product.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) are the two internationally recognised systems. They support the same objectives but take a different approach. View here PEFC’s Promoting Sustainable Forest Management Globally and compare with the FSC COC standard, in full or its summary.

The other certification bodies are: Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI), American Tree Farm System (ATFS) and Canadian Standards Association (CSA). and its