Chain of custody management company Independent Forestry (Indfor) has swapped certification bodies for its 610 Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified UK members.
The move, which involved transferring members from the Soil Association Woodmark Programme to Dutch certifier SKAL (Control Union), follows a dispute last year between Indfor and the Soil Association.
The Soil Association has now terminated the FSC forest management group and chain of custody certificates it granted to Indfor.
It expressed regret that it was no longer providing certification services to Indfor but said it also had its own reasons for wanting to end the commercial relationship.
This includes the amount of time used to issue corrective actions to the group, time commitments arising from growth of the group, “concerns about the effectiveness of group management” and Indfor’s “unwillingness” to accept increased audit costs.
Indfor notified the Soil Association last June that its members would be moving to another certification body by the end of 2005.
Indfor managing director David Ogg said: “There has been no break in the chain for either the forest management group or chain of custody, which is very important. It’s like changing car insurance.”
He has plans in hand to become a certifier through his newly set-up company, TimberCheck, which is currently being audited by FSC. He hopes to be able to offer cost-effective certification services by the end of March.
Mr Ogg, who also intends to become a Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes certifier, plans to close Indfor’s forest management group scheme to new members and offer companies the opportunity of being certified by TimberCheck.
