Accreditation:
A process according to which a competent authority (usually a national organisation) formally acknowledges that a Certification Body (CB) is competent to carry out specific certification activities, on the basis of internationally agreed instructions.
Admitted certificate:
Certificate for sustainable forest management (SFM) or legal origin (LET) which has been approved by Keurhout and admitted to the Keurhout-Sustainable or the Keurhout-Legal system respectively.
Appeals Board (AB):
Independent board which, on behalf of the KH Management Authority, deals with appeals against decisions taken by the BoE or the KH-MA. The final verdict of the AB is binding.
Audit:
Examination and verification by a certification body according to a formal set of Principles & Criteria to assess the state of a Forest Management Unit or CoC company for which a certificate is to be issued.
Audit report:
A report that presents the results of an audit.
Board of Experts (BoE):
Independent board of experts which, on behalf of Keurhout, evaluates applications for admission to the KH-Legal or KH-Sustainable systems on the basis of a combination of an assessment of documents and validation of a certificate or a certification system based on the requirements of the underlying Standards of the KH-Protocol.
Certificate:
A document which has been issued in accordance with the rules of a certification system which indicates with a certain degree of reliability that a product, process or service meets a specified standard.
Certification:
A procedure according to which an independent third party states in writing that a product, process or service satisfies certain conditions which are specified in a standard or other normative document. In this framework: By drawing up (internationally) accepted rules (principles and criteria, P&C) for sustainable forest management it can be reviewed whether the management complies with these rules. Certification can also be applied to P&C for legal origin.
Certification Body (CB):
Authorised or accredited independent certification institution which can execute a (field) audit regarding legal origin, sustainable forest management and/or CoC and in the event of a positive result can issue a certificate.
Certification Standard:
A document consisting of a set of principles, criteria and indicators which is used as a basis for certification.
Certification System (CS):
A system consisting of requirements, procedures and policy rules for the execution of certification audits.
Chain-of-Custody (CoC):
The chain along which products are transported, traded and processed, from the forest to the end user (also referred to as “the unbroken path from the forest to the end-user”). In addition to the certification of sustainable forest management or legal origin it is important to guarantee that the timber of certified forests is not mixed with timber from non-certified forests. That is why the various timber flows must be kept physically and/or administratively separated from each other and the entire chain that the timber goes through from forest, via processing, trade and transport up to the finished product is registered. The chain from the forest to the end user (total of all links) is called the CoC. If a business in this chain satisfies all conditions, it can obtain a CoC certificate.
Country of origin:
Country where the trees have been harvested from which the wood (product) has been derived.
Criterion:
Condition or aspect of a (dynamic) process which must be reached as a result with regard to meeting a principle.
Demonstrable:
Demonstrated in a transparent manner by means of sufficient indications at criterion level.
Gatekeeper function Keurhout:
Differentiating between those certificates and/or certification systems that comply and those that do not comply with certain standards, based on assessment against the particular standards of the Keurhout Protocol and in the former case the subsequent full admittance of certificates and/or certification systems to a particular Keurhout system.
Identification:
Keurhout admitted timber shall be clearly identifiable as Keurhout (-Legal or -Sustainable) throughout the CoC, preferably accompanied by on product use of the correct Keurhout logo, colour, lettering or number codes . Keurhout Logo use by non Keurhout participants is only allowed upon request and approval by the Secretariat of the.Keurhout Management Authority.
Independent:
Not dependent on and not influenced by the producer or CoC participant.
Indicator:
A qualitative or quantitative parameter which can be evaluated in relation to a criterion.
Keurhout condition:
A requirement stipulated by Keurhout which must be met within a specified period.
Keurhout-Legal:
Timber of traceable origin, for which it has been demonstrated that it is not stolen and the certificate has been recognised by the BoE. This timber may be marked with the Keurhout-Legal logo. In countries of origin this timber is referred to as “Keurhout-Legal admitted timber only” or simply “Keurhout-Legal”.
Keurhout-Legal product:
A product manufactured by a CoC participant which consists of 100 % Keurhout-Legal timber (level 1) or at least 70 % Keurhout-Legal timber and the rest KH-SFM and or “Verified Legal Timber” (level 2).
Keurhout logo:
The official Keurhout logo (for Keurhout-Legal or for Keurhout-Sustainable) which may be used on legal or sustainable Keurhout products.
Keurhout Management Authority:
Authority of the Keurhout system responsible for establishing protocols, facilitating overall management and taking strategic management decisions.
Keurhout participant:
Registered supplier who supplies timber with certificates which have been admitted to the Keurhout system and who is annually controlled by an independent CB. These are specified on this Keurhout website.
Keurhout Quality Mark:
An official mark (logo) that guarantees admission to either the KH-Legal or KH-Sustainable system and which distinguishes the Keurhout from non-Keurhout
Keurhout requirements:
Depending on the review (SFM, LET, SYS-SFM or SYS-LET) this relates to the primary requirements of the Keurhout Protocol, which are to be fulfilled..
Keurhout Statement:
Statement which is issued to accompany a Keurhout product, to the consumer by the last KH-participant in the chain.
Keurhout-Sustainable:
Timber originating from sustainably managed forests, the certificate of which is recognised by Keurhout. This timber may be marked with the Keurhout-Sustainable logo. In countries of origin this timber is referred to as “Keurhout-Sustainable admitted timber” or simply “Keurhout-Legal”.
Keurhout-Sustainable product:
A product manufactured by a CoC participant or Keurhout admitted CoC company, which consists of 100 % of Keurhout-Sustainable timber (level 1) or at least of 70 % Keurhout-Sustainable timber and the rest Keurhout-Legal timber and/or “Verified Legal Timber” (level 2).
Keurhout trajectory:
A time path agreed between Keurhout, the CB and the producer with distinct milestones with the objective of achieving a desired SFM level.
Legal:
In accordance with applicable legislation and regulations in the country of origin.
Legal compliance (in the context of timber harvesting and forest management):
Forest management and timber harvesting are executed in full compliance with all relevant legislation pertaining to forest management, environment, labour conditions and customary rights..
Legal Keurhout:
See Keurhout-Legal.
Legal origin:
This refers to a traceable origin for which requirements of the applicable legislation and regulations in the country of origin have been met. In the context of this protocol: timber that is rightfully acquired from nature, local population, land owner and government and complies with the relevant KH standards.
Legislation and regulations:
Laws, rules and government regulations in the country of origin, including laws and rules resulting from international treaties which have been ratified by the country.
Manufacture:
A product, imported or otherwise, that will not undergo further processing in the final destination country.
Management system:
A system that determines the policy, the aims and the way to achieve them. In the case of forest management this consists of policy, planning, management of operational activities, monitoring and evaluation and feedback for improvement.
Measuring difference:
The quantity of timber that is arithmetically lost or obtained in the conversion of the imported measuring unit into the metrical measuring unit.
Nominal measure:
The measurement with which the actual measurement must conform within a specified margin of tolerance.
Non-Conformance (NC):
An aspect in the (forest) management or organisation that significantly deviates from the norm as established by a standard.
Norm:
A level of compliance or a particular approach which has been established as indicator for the verification of compliance with a standard.
NTFP’s (non-timber forest products):
All forest products other than timber, including derivative products, deriving from trees, plants and animals that live in the forest.
Planning unit:
More or less homogenous part of a Forest Management Unit with specified management objectives.
Plantation:
Forest stand, resulting from reforestation or sowing, in which characteristic elements of natural ecosystems may be temporarily lacking.
Primary forest:
Forest in a more or less natural state, with viable populations of the majority or all species (plants and animals) occurring therein, in natural distribution patterns and densities.
Principle:
A settled rule of agreed conduct. Principles are elements of an aim, such as sustainable forest management.
Processing loss:
The quantity of timber which is lost during processing (e.g. due to shortening).
Protocol:
Description of procedures to be followed and references to be used for a specific aim.
Protocol for the validation of Certification Systems (KH-SYS):
Description of audit schedules and combination of standards (normative requirements) on the basis of which the validation of claims with regard to certification systems (either concerning LEgal origin Timber or Sustainable Forest Management) is carried out.
Protocol for the validation of legal origin (KH-LET):
Description of KH audit schedules and combination of standards (normative requirements) on the basis of which the validation of claims with regard to LEgal origin Timber is carried out.
Protocol for the validation of sustainable forest management (KH-SFM):
Description of KH audit schedules and combination of standards (normative requirements) on the basis of which the validation of claims with regard to Sustainable Forest Management is carried out.
Recognisability:
During the time that the Keurhout is present within a participant's business, it is important that this timber is identifiable as Keurhout (legal or sustainable).
Semi-manufacture:
A product, imported or otherwise, which will undergo processing at least one or more times in the final destination country.
Silvicultural approach:
The way forest stand management deals with issues like regeneration, thinning, retention and wood harvest, thereby determining the forest stand physiognomy in various stages of management cycles.
Site conditions:
Interrelated conditions pertaining to soil, climate, topography, flora and fauna which are particular for a determined location and, through operational measures, can be affected in order to achieve management goals.
Standard for legal timber:
Set of criteria and indicators which define legal origin or legal compliance.
Standard for sustainable timber:
Set of criteria and indicators which define sustainable forest management.
Suspension:
Temporary cessation of a KH-admittance in order to renew it in a later stage if requirements are met.
Sustainable Forest Management (SFM):
Sustainable forest management, also referred to as responsible forest management, aims to preserve forests as a natural resource for current and future generations. Sustainable forest management is based on three basic principles: socially useful, ecologically responsible and economically feasible.
Sustainable Keurhout:
See Keurhout-Sustainable.
Temporary extension:
Temporary extension of an admission of a certificate (and thus of the right to use the Keurhout-label), e.g. in case of anticipated or on-going re-validation.
Term of validity:
Period that a certificate remains valid.
Validation of claims:
Assessment of evidence that the third party endorsed claim of legal or SFM timber fulfils specified requirements as have been laid down in this protocol.
Verification of conformity:
Evaluation of the proof that a product, process or service meets specified requirements.
Verified Legal Timber (VLT):
Timber with a legality declaration or certificate which has been assessed by the Board of Experts on the basis of a pre-scan (preceding a validation study based on the criteria for Keurhout Legal) and of which compliance with the criteria of the VLT pre-scan checklist has been determined. This concerns a temporary provision, which has been installed until 31/12/2010. For details, please refer to the Keurhout Protocol, version May 15th 2009.
Withdrawal:
Cancellation of an earlier admittance.