All UPM Raflatac sites in China are now FSC and PEFC certified

​(UPM Raflatac APAC, 30 October 2014) – UPM Raflatac has achieved both FSC® and PEFC Chain of Custody (CoC) certifications for its label stock slitting and distribution operations in the Guangzhou and Tianjin terminals in China. All UPM Raflatac sites in China are now CoC certified to the main global forest certification standards and the range of eco-labeled paper label materials available in China will increase.

Despite labels being a small part of packaging, sustainable origin and traceability for all packaging materials has grown in importance across the globe. Having the Chain of Custody means that label converters and brand owners can trust that the UPM Raflatac label materials carrying the FSC® or PEFC logo contain wood fibre verified as coming from sustainable and legally managed forests.

“This is an important step in our efforts to supply products that are sustainable over their life cycle, and to expand our range of CoC-labeled products. It demonstrates our strong commitment to meeting the Asian markets’ growing expectation that we deliver sustainable products. We are now selling around 700 certified products globally,” says Robert Taylor, Director, Stakeholder Relations, UPM Raflatac.

Earlier this year UPM Raflatac conducted an extensive Chain of Custody tour in several Southeast Asian countries. Hundreds of label converters and brand owners have attended the workshops, seminars and other events to discuss and share their knowledge on forest certification and responsible sourcing in the label industry.

For further information, please contact:
Mr Robert Taylor, Director, Stakeholder Relations, UPM Raflatac, tel. +358 204 16 143


UPM Raflatac is one of the world’s leading producers of self-adhesive label materials. We supply high-quality paper and film labelstock for consumer product and industrial labelling through a global network of factories, distribution terminals and sales offices. We employ around 2,900 people and made sales of EUR 1.2 billion (USD 1.6 billion) in 2013. UPM Raflatac is part of UPM – The Biofore Company. Find out more at www.upmraflatac.com

The Chain of Custody (CoC) verifies that the wood used in a product originates from sustainably managed and certified forests.

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council®) is an international non-governmental organisation founded in 1993, whose task is to support environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests. Forests certified to FSC standards are located in more than 60 countries. The Council has defined ten general principles of forest management. The actual certification standards are drawn up in accordance with the FSC principles in a national cooperation process. Fulfilling the FSC standard requires independent third-party verification. More information: www.fsc.org

PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes™) is, by area, the world’s largest forest certification system. PEFC is an umbrella organisation for the mutual recognition of national or regional forest certification schemes, which meet internationally recognised requirements for sustainable forest management. PEFC includes forest certification, Chain of Custody and product labelling. Fulfilling the PEFC standard requires independent third-party verification. PEFC members are national or regional forest certification schemes based on inter-governmental processes for sustainable forest management around the world. In Europe these principles were agreed at a conference of European forest ministers. More information: www.pefc.org