On Earth Day 2008, WhatTheyThink hosted a webinar titled "The Value of Certifications as a Business Strategy" that attracted more than 500 registrants. Companies who are building a sustainable strategy and focusing on good corporate citizenship are looking to third-party certification to validate their strategies to the market. Should your company consider one or all of the certifications available? How do you go about it? What steps do you take? This week we hear from Vic Barkin, consultant and auditor for Smartwood's FSC-certification program. Today, in Part One, Vic will talk about the Chain of Custody certification process, how you go about becoming certified, and other certifications you might consider. In Part Two, tomorrow, we'll get the process details including estimated costs. Note: There are a number of consultants and auditors for several certifying bodies, WhatTheyThink does not endorse or recommend service professionals. Details in these two articles are based on Vic's experience as a consultant and auditor for FSC certification; the requirements for SFI certification are similar but not identical. For exact details contact the consultant and/or auditor of your choice. Why does my company need to be Chain of Custody certified? If a company wants to either promote FSC- or SFI/PEFC-certified paper products through the use of either trademarked identification on printed pieces, and/or enact the Chain of Custody (CoC) through documentation to their customers, they have to be certified. Even the innocent use of a statement such as “Printed on FSC certified-paper” constitutes trademark violations. There are a variety of organizations, both in the public and private sectors that are instituting certified paper sourcing policies or mandates for all or part of their print buying activities. This spans the gamut from major corporations, government and educational sectors, to all types of smaller companies and institutions in their quest to define and validate their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. Where mandates exist, a printing company has no choice but to have CoC certification from whichever forest certification assessment scheme is dictated. The alternative is that they don’t print the job. On the other side, necessity is coming from within the industry, and is based on desires by upper management to be as environmentally responsible as possible, to “do the right thing” and to put a well-branded public face to their efforts in order to attract and/or retain like minded customers. Do I need a consultant to become Chain of Custody certified or can I do it myself? Where a company has the internal resources to assign/volunteer a coordinator to do the required research, develop and write procedures, train staff and implement system requirements, a consultant may not be necessary. An experienced consultant comes into play when either the organization does not have the resources to allocate, or when a shortened learning curve and implementation timeline is desired. In both cases, the value a consultant brings to the table is based on knowledge of CoC requirements, coupled with an understanding of a wide variety of existing industry standards and workflows with which CoC requirements can be integrated. Is there a “standard” format or templated process that I can follow? While there are greatly generalized templates available specifically for printers, they are left intentionally vague and must be customized and paraphrased to integrate with each organization’s workflow, or dovetailed into an existing EMS, such as ISO 14001. As no two printing companies are exactly alike, developing a one-size fits all (or even more sizes) template is not feasible. Generalized outlines that are available need to be correctly interpreted by organizations seeking CoC certification. The end result is a strong and reliable system, due to the internal effort it takes to fully grasp, develop and implement customized procedures and protocols. Who does the certifying or can I certify myself? CoC certification for both FSC and SFI/PEFC is controlled by an accreditation process for certifying bodies (CBs). Companies do not certify themselves. In the US, there are four CBs for FSC; Bureau Veritas (BVC), Scientific Certification Systems (SCS), the SGS Systems and Services and the SmartWood Program (SW). SFI/PEFC currently accredits three certifiers; Bureau Veritas, National Strategic Registrations and PricewaterhouseCoopers. All CBs offer essentially the same services. One thing note is that since SmartWood is a program of the Rainforest Alliance, when an organization obtains their certificate through them; the licensing agreement can also include the Rainforest Alliance Certified seal, which has international brand recognition in its own right. Are there other green processes/certifications that I should consider? One of the reasons that paper certification programs have become so popular among the print-buying community is that there has historically not been a print buyer-oriented nationally recognized program which defines and validates green printing criteria. That should all change in the near future with what the Sustainable Green Printing Partnership (SGP) represents. As a collaborative effort between PIA/GATF, FTA and SGIA, this group along with stakeholders from the regulatory, environmental and consumer arenas, the SGP has every opportunity for long-term success. Go to www.sgppartnership.org to learn more. As for other ready for prime-time green printing certifications on a national level, there are none. Regionally, there are quite a few voluntary programs administered by state, county and city departments of environmental quality as well as some integrated programs instituted by PIA affiliates. There are also programs such as ISO 14001 certification, which defines standards for environmental management systems, but typically only larger organizations implement such systems, and it’s out of reach for smaller companies. That said, many companies are integrating ISO principles into their executive management strategies. On the process side, there are the myriad of energy-related programs available through a variety of sources such the EPA, other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and power companies. Finally, there are a plethora of “newly invented” marks coming from all corners of our universe. Some come from suppliers, while others are being proprietarily created and administered by the printers themselves. The question is, are they transparent and credible? Ultimately, the difficulty with any certification program is a matter of endorsement by the print-buying community on a national level. Until then, paper makes up the largest perceived percentage of a printed piece. Because of that, forest certification schemes are the most widely recognized and requested form of “green-tagging” of printed products we currently have. About Vic Barkin Vic Nathan Barkin has more than 30 years of experience in the printing industry and currently owns a consulting practice specializing in digital printing business development, workflow, and technology implementation geared to the in-plant and commercial printing communities. He also offers expertise in “Green Printing” practices and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification facilitation, and serves as a consultant for Smartwood's FSC-certification program, having audited or assessed over 70 printing facilities across the country. Barkin serves as vice president for the Mountain States Printing Education Foundation and is a contributing writer for In-Plant Graphics Magazine.