Before timber is allowed the predicate “Keurhout-Sustainable”, three primary conditions must be satisfied:
- the timber must come from sustainably managed forests,
- there must be proper monitoring of the CoC,
- the quality and independence of the certification institution must be guaranteed.
In order to qualify timber as “Keurhout-Legal” the following conditions must be satisfied:
- demonstration of compliance with the international, national and local legislation and regulations relevant for legal origin,
- the CoC must have been properly monitored,
- the quality and independence of the certification institution.
Even if these primary conditions for legal and sustainable appear similar at first sight, there are significant substantive differences.
Legally produced timber and sustainably produced timber must not be confused with each other:
- Legally produced timber is only a first step in the right direction: it satisfies statutory rules, and is the minimum that has to be met to provide certainty as to the origin of the timber and to demonstrate that there is no illegal timber involved.
- Sustainably produced timber goes much further and encompasses many more elements relating to ecological, economic, social, growing and harvesting qualities of the management. Sustainably produced timber therefore is and remains the final goal.
In Keurhout's view, the requirements for legally produced timber form an integral part of the requirements for sustainably produced timber. Sustainably produced timber is thus always of legal origin, but timber of legal origin is not necessarily sustainably produced.