Multi-Site Certification
Chain of custody standards provide the rules for organizations that operate across several locations or maintain a central office with multiple branches. The fsc-std-40-003 document defines how a group of small companies or a large corporation with many warehouses can share a single certificate. This structure reduces the administrative burden of individual audits by allowing a central authority to manage the compliance of the entire group.
Governance Structure
Control systems established under this standard require a central office to perform internal monitoring of all participating sites. While the external auditor only visits a sample of the locations, the fsc-std-40-003 mandate ensures that every branch follows the same procedures for tracking certified material. The central office must hold the authority to remove any site that fails to meet the requirements.
This central management must keep records of all transactions and training sessions for every person involved in the chain of custody. Such a model is common for printers and converters who belong to a larger cooperative or national trade group.
Audit Scope
Risks associated with the mixing of non-certified and certified paper are managed through these internal checks. A failure at one site can jeopardize the status of the whole group under the fsc-std-40-003 framework. Documentation must remain transparent for the duration of the certificate.