Traceability is the ability to track sources of wood from final products through the supply chain to – as close as is practical – their origins. A clear sense of all the links in the products’ supply chain will be useful for the procurement manager to assess:

• Whether the sources of wood can be accurately identified.
• Whether the products have the properties they are claimed to have.
• For instance, whether:
• The wood was harvested and processed in compliance with relevant laws
• The wood comes from sustainably managed forests
• The unique ecological and cultural features of the forest where the wood was sourced have been maintained
• The products were manufactured with environmental controls in place
• Harvesting and manufacturing processes complied with social standards.

Tracing the origin of wood and paper-based products is not always straightforward. Supply chains can sometimes link many wood producers and dealers across several countries, and procurement portfolios can be complex, with multiple supply chains (Figures 2 and 3).

It may be easier to establish traceability for solid wood products than for paper-based products. Paper products are manufactured in pulp mills that typically draw wood from many sources. In the most complex cases, a network of dealers buying wood from many different loggers, landowners and sawmills may supply a pulp mill (Box 1). In a sawmill, logs usually lose their link to individual landowners in a sorting yard in the same way an agricultural business would combine grain from individual farmers in a common silo. The wood collected from sawmills – often chips that are by-products of solid-wood products manufacturing – further lose their individual identity during the paper making process.

Understanding the position of a company in the supply chain can help identify priorities and key areas of influence. Also, depending on the location and/or complexity of the supply chain, the need for due diligence is greater in some places than in others.

Requesting documentation from suppliers is a common method of tracing the origin of raw materials. A supply chain can be regarded as a chain of legally binding contractual relationships; purchasers can trace the supply chain through contracts, and require that their suppliers commit to providing raw materials that were harvested in compliance with the law, or meet other customer specifications. In places where the law – both background law and contract law – is strong and properly enforced, sales contracts can be a good compliance mechanism.
In addition to sales contracts, other documents for tracing the origin of raw materials include:

• Licensing permit(s) from the relevant authorities giving permission to harvest
• Certificate of a sustainable forest management standard
• Certificate of origin
• Chain-of-custody (CoC) certificate
• Certificate of legality
• Harvesting/management plans
• Phytosanitary certificates – issued by state/local authorities regarding the plant health requirements for the import of non-processed products
• Bill of lading – a receipt for cargo and contract of transportation between a shipper and a carrier that describes the goods being transported and is issued when the shipment is received in good order.
• Export documents
• Transportation certificates

All of these documents should carry appropriate stamps and seals from the relevant governmental agencies. However, false documentation can be common in certain countries and additional systems to trace the raw materials back to – within the limits of feasibility – their origins (Question 1) may be needed in some cases. Working with those directly involved in the supply chain will help develop a better understanding of the challenges, costs and other impacts associated with implementing additional tracking systems. Forest managers, forest owners, government agencies and certification bodies active in the area can provide useful information.

A high degree of vertical integration makes traceability simpler. However, in some countries such as in the United States, companies are becoming less integrated, selling off their forest lands and thereby externalizing traceability.