Vienna, Austria — HS Timber Group is the first solid wood lumber company approved to use the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI®) Label Recognizing Global Standards. The label recognizes PEFC Chain of Custody (CoC) certified wood products outside of North America. HS Timber Group is a leading European producer of lumber, blockboards, and other value-added timber products which it exports in more than 70 countries worldwide.
SFI advances sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. By using the SFI Label, HS Timber Group is helping to educate the market about sustainable sourced forest products and giving consumers information to make responsible purchasing decisions. HS Timber Group also must supply annual information to SFI about the origins of its sourcing.
“We welcome HS Timber Group as a SFI Global Label user in Europe that is sending products into the North American marketplace. With SFI’s Label Recognizing Global Standards we are pleased to be providing the PEFC community of users access to the most recognized forest certification label in North America,” said Jason Metnick, SFI’s Senior Vice President of Customer Affairs. According to a recent study conducted by Two Sides North America, 54% of U.S. consumers are aware of SFI, making it the most recognized forest certification label in the U.S.
PEFC™ Chain of Custody Certification
A precondition to use the SFI Label Recognizing Global Standards is to have a PEFC Chain of Custody Certification. HS Timber Group was certified according to the PEFC CoC in 2014. Additionally, to have added assurances regarding the legal origin of its supply, HS Timber Group worked with supply chain experts from KPMG LLP Canada to support its continuous improvement initiatives for timber sourcing at its Romanian sawmills and enhance existing protocols and chain of custody processes for mitigating the risk of receiving timber from controversial sources. The legal origin of all processed timber is checked through procedures for both certified and noncertified material.
Chain of Custody certification is crucial to the HS Timber Group’s mission
“Certification is a cornerstone of the company’s sustainability approach. Even if we are not doing the harvesting ourselves, chain of custody certification is a crucial part of our mission. We support sustainable forest management practices on the ground,” said Michael Proschek-Hauptmann, Chief Compliance and Sustainability Officer at HS Timber Group.
HS Timber Group committed to a target of purchasing 100% certified material by 2025. We are proud to now apply the SFI Label Recognizing Global Standards on our products.
“This certification underlines our continuous commitment towards sustainability in our operations,” Proschek-Hauptmann said.
Learn more
To learn more about the SFI Label Recognizing Global Standards visit sfiprogram.org/labelsandclaims.
