---
id: KB-IU-010
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/manufacturing/timber-and-wood-products-origin-and-treatment
idioma: en
categoria: sector-industria
subcategoria: madera
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-010, KB-IU-003]
citadoPor: [KB-IU-013]
---

# Timber and wood products: origin and treatment

_Three separate sets of documentation people conflate: where it came from, how it was treated, and what it emits._

**Responde a:** documentation for the timber we buy · fsc pefc chain of custody · pallet treatment for export · board certificates and emissions

Timber carries three sets of documentation answering different questions, and conflating them is what makes a company believe it is covered when it is not. None replaces the other two.

## The three, and what each answers

| Documentation | Answers | Who issues it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Origin and legality | Where this timber came from | Your supplier, with their chain backwards |
| Chain of custody | That certified material was not mixed with uncertified | The certification scheme, in your name |
| Packaging treatment | That the pallet or crate was treated for travel | Whoever made or treated it, with their mark |
| Board performance | Emissions, reaction to fire, intended use | The board manufacturer |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second row is the most misread. A chain of custody certification **does not say the timber came from a specific forest: it says you handle it without mixing it with uncertified material**. That is why it is yours, not your supplier's, and why buying from a certified supplier does not certify you.

## The case that catches most companies

> [!WARNING]
> Wooden export packaging carries its own treatment and mark, and **depends not on what you do with the product but on where it goes**. A company that has never touched timber can have a container held at destination because the pallets lacked the right mark. It is the classic first-shipment failure to certain countries, and it is avoided by asking the forwarder before loading, not after.

## What to hold per supplier

**En corto**

- Their origin documentation, referenced to the supply rather than generic.
- Their certificate, with scope and date, if you buy certified material.
- The product datasheet if it is board or a processed product.
- And renewal warnings: these certificates expire and get checked exactly when a large order lands.

## If you process and sell

1. **Your declaration is yours** — What you say about the finished product is answered by you, not your supplier.
2. **Keep traceability backwards** — Which material consignment went into which outgoing order.
3. **And physically separate certified stock** — If it gets mixed in the warehouse, the chain of custody breaks even with the paperwork still in the file.

> [!NOTE]
> Certification schemes, due diligence obligations on origin and packaging requirements vary by product and destination country, and they get updated. **Confirm what applies and with what scope with your adviser, the scheme or your forwarder**; this describes what documentation exists and which question each answers.

**Does my supplier's certificate count as mine?**

No. Theirs evidences their chain; yours begins when the material enters your warehouse.

**What if I buy already-processed timber?**

It still has an origin and obligations still attach to it: ask for it anyway.

**Do reused pallets count too?**

If they travel abroad, yes: what matters is the pallet's mark, not how often it has been used.

## Ejemplos

**A company buys from a certified supplier and advertises itself as certified.**

- Checks that chain of custody is its own and not inherited
- Physically separates certified stock in the warehouse

→ Stops claiming something it could not support and prepares certification properly.

**The origin is asserted by the supplier with no document.**

- Requests the document that backs it

→ The claim stops being only a claim.

**Consignments of different origins get mixed.**

- Records what went into each production run

→ You can say what came from where.

**A client asks for the origin of one specific supply.**

- Checks that delivery's file

→ You answer per delivery.

**The treatment certificate arrives later.**

- Attaches it to the consignment on receipt

→ The certificate lives with what it covers.

**The supplier changes origin and does not say so.**

- Asks them to report any change

→ The change arrives before the question.