Description of certification process

What kind of certifications exist? Description of certification process Three kinds of FfV 1 - process can be distinguished: first Harvest Certification, which is, directly handed over to the legitimate owner of the seeds, after harvest. Second, the Seed Certification which is deployed in the trade of seeds. The final process is the Plant Certification which becomes redundant in the trade the forest plants between tree nurseries or tradespersons. With every change of ownership (disposal of materials to another company), the renewed certificate and reference samples ensure the verifiability of the product. For example: After the harvest, tree nursery A obtains the certification of the materials and records this with a Harvest Certification. Half of the seeds are used for the production of selfcertified forest plants. The other half of seeds are sold to to a partner company B. After the transaction, company B receives the products as well as a copy of the Harvest Certification. Tree nursery B now has two options: either it produces uncertified plants or it sends a reference sample and a copy of the delivery note as well as the Harvest Certification to ISOGEN. With this, company B can request a so- called Seed certification and likewise produce certified plants. After two years tree nursery A can sell a portion of its plants to different forestry enterprises. The forestry enterprises receive in each case a copy of the Harvest Certification and therefore can confirm to the PEFC that they conformed their guidelines. Tree nursery A has the opportunity to sell the remaining rest of the products to a trader. The trader for his part would like to negotiate with certified products. This can easily be done by sending the Harvest Certification and the delivery note, as well as a copy of the reference sample of buds ( buds from side shoots of 100 different plants) to ISOGEN and in return receives a Plant Certification. Why is the validity of certificates limited? The validity of certificates is determined by how long the seeds are viable. This means, for example, that specific types of seeds such as common oak seeds or sessile oak seeds, can only be stored for a limited time, whereas other species like, spruce or pine seeds, survive for several years without loosing their ability to germinate. The certification process therefore provides a validity period in which seeds can be certified and traded. After the expiry of the certificate, however, seeds may still be useful and re-certifiable; it is just a matter of how many seeds per kilogram survived and are still able to germinate at the present time so the certification my be renewed. On the basis of the current germination capacity, fair prices may be determined which also avoids the need of claims. Who is responsible for the appropriate sampling? 1 Forum forstliches Vermehrungsgut e.v. Certification Body mainly applied in Germany

The persons involved in the harvest procedures or the company are recorded in a check list, that the responsibility for the sampling as well as the proper shipment of the samples is clear. The entire responsibility lies with the legitimate owner of the seeds and not with any harvest company employed by him. During the harvest and the acceptance of goods, the presiding district official does not carry any responsibilities for the certification procedures, since he simply takes over the official control of the harvest and the purchase. Nevertheless, the signature of the district officer on the reference sample is preferred on the part of the FfV. With his signature the official certifies that the on- site harvested propagation material is sent to the proper certification body. He is not responsible for the proper sampling of the materials. In the trade of seeds or forest plants the responsibility lies with each owner. He makes sure that the quantities noted on the delivery notes are correct and that the reference sample was taken correctly. How should the reference sample be treated and packed? 1. Reference samples directly after harvest (R1) Cone: Take from each harvested tree a cone and put it inside a paper bag (i.e. from a bakery). The number of harvested trees may be noted with a marker on the paper bag. Until shipment, the bag should be stored in an open cardboard box in a warm and dry place (e.g. your office) Twigs/Branches: Take from each harvested tree a 15 cm long twig with well developed buds and put it inside a freezer bag. The number of harvested trees may be noted on the freezer bag with a marker (Edding 3000). Until shipment, store the bag in a refrigerator or in a shady and cool place (max. 8 C) in your company. Seeds: Until shipment, store the seeds in a freezer bag in the refrigerator. 2. Reference samples after preparation (R2) No specific storage of seeds necessary, send the material directly to ISOGEN 3. Reference samples of forest plants (R3) No specific storage necessary, send the material directly to ISOGEN Furthermore the PEFC in its guidelines 4.4 requires: Seed and Forest goods with verifiable origin should be used, as long as the origin is available on the market. The availability of the origin (identity) is ensured by a common technically acknowledged procedure which is based on the genetic comparison between reference samples and seeds and seedlings.

Forest owners and forest enterprises are therefore interested in certified propagation material, because they want to follow the PEFC-guidelines and intend to act to in accordance to the law. Who takes over specific tasks during the certification process? The FfV- procedure has to be absolutely independent and neutral. This is enabled by the separation of powers. Three parties act together and help to control each other respectively. The function of the certification body: The main task is the contribution to the further development of the procedure with the objective to simplify and reduce costs. Their function as an advisory committee is fulfilled broadly by the members of the association. The members consist of representatives of the arboriculture and arboreal cultivation, private harvest companies, public kilns (a process in a facility where cones are dried so they loose their seeds), compliance officer, scientists, private forest owners and representatives of the state forestry administration. New members are chosen in such a way that it is ensured that no stakeholder is over-represented. The association is also tasked with the choice of the certification and the commission of research laboratory. The association has no economic interests. The function of the certifier: The certifier is the professor of forest genetics and forest tree breeding at the Georg- August University, Prof. Dr. Reiner Finkeldey. He is bound to neutrality and secrecy and controls ISOGEN. He has no commercial conflict of interest, as he does not receive any kind of remuneration for his work. He leads the verification procedure and/or the removal of defects and thus can withdraw its further certification. He decides on the involvement of officials in case of proven offense. The function of the scientific laboratory ISOGEN: ISOGEN is entrusted with the protection of the reference samples, the documentation of the complete processing and trade flow as well the care and maintenance of the database and the backup of data. ISOGEN issues certifications and sends these to companies. ISOGEN passes all relevant data to the certifier. Five percent of the reference samples are examined on a random basis. Under the instructions of ISOGEN, reference samples of the certifier may be anonymized and passed through other laboratories. In a suspicious case, ISOGEN analyses a second sample. What are the costs for the forest owner? With the development of the procedure the focus was to minimize costs and reduce bureaucratic demands. The assumption is that tree nurseries may pass additional financial and bureaucratic costs through to the forest owner. Consider following sample calculations: Example 1: Tree nursery A produces and harvests 200.000 plants from the lot seeds. The costs amount to 200 for the harvest certification as well as 100, which are assumed to be for

postage and internal expenses, such as the taking of reference samples etc. Thus 200.000 produced plants costs 300, which leads to a cost of 0.15 cent per plant. The forest owner should pay an additional 4.50 with the planting of 3.000 trees/ha. Example 2: A public kiln harvests and pays 200 for the harvest certification. The kiln sells the complete lot to tree nursery B, which produces 200.000 plants. 100 is payed for the seed certification. The internal expenses are assumed to be 100 and 50 for the tree nursery and thus the complete costs are 450, which leads to a cost of 0.225 cent/plant. The forest owner should pay an additional 6.75 with the planting of 3.000 trees/ha With the planting of 300.000 trees/ha the forest owner should pay 6.75 additionally. The examples show clearly that every additional trading step will increase the price of the plant. On the one hand, this is necessary to distribute the costs of the procedure fairly, on the other hand it is also the objective to increase the transparency of the procedure for the forest owner. The trading of forest plants through several companies, however, leads to a lack of transparency. Is there a possibility to certify propagation material, which is not subjected to the FoVG? The demand for locally indigenous seed material is increasing. The FfV- certification procedure offers the possibility to produce and harvest certified seeds. The procedure is essentially identical with the FfV procedure for species. As there are no root certificates issued, we need your own information instead to describe the current harvest and if necessary to recover it: forestry office,district, department or GPS- coordinates. In general Please make sure that samples may not be mixed up, if you send various samples. Always put the documents inside the repository with the samples or attach these to the repositories. When is the best time to send the reference samples? To avoid any kind of the quality during transit diminutions, send the material on Mondays or Tuesdays, under no circumstances Fridays. What should the ideal delivery look like? Harvest certification It is the best to send the material, only when the delivery is complete. This may not always be possible because occasionally there are longer waiting times in the kilns. Nevertheless it should be possible in most instances to send a complete delivery. For the harvest certification this consists of: Reference sample 1 and when necessary a second reference sample follows. There should be, furthermore, a copy of the root certificate, the check list and if necessary the weight should be noted and attached to the preparation. The report of the seed inspection will usually be given later. As soon as all samples and documents have been received, you will receive your certificate.

Seed and Plant certificates Here the effort is low: copy the delivery note and the included certificate (if necessary note the number of the underlying certificate by hand on the delivery note) and take a reference sample. Note: In case you like to have a Plant certificate for an amount of more than 10.000 plants a reference sample is needed, for smaller los (<10.000 plants) not. What quantities of seeds are required? The quantities of the reference samples to be sent are recorded in a table on this web site. Please note, we require sufficient seeds, if we need to conduct the seed inspection. Please add the indicated quantities for the seed inspection and the certification. How to take a representative reference sample from a seed lot The reference sample should represent the whole harvest as precisely as possible. When forming the reference sample errors should be avoided while avoiding any additional expenses. Notice: A reference sample should at least contain 250 healthy complete seeds. Therefore please take 400 seeds from the lot. It is the best if you take seeds at various points various (i.e. different bags) and take out approx. 20 seeds each. If you climb up 40 trees, take 10 seeds each for the reference sample. The genetic material is distributed evenly in a small forest stand which should be be harvested. In the example on the western part of the stand there are more red trees than in the eastern part, where a lot of green trees are standing, whereas the northern part is occupied with blue trees. On the first day, the western part is harvested, therefore only red seeds are gained, on the second and the third day, however, more green seeds are gained. Every evening the seeds are brought to an assembly area, where they are stocked next to each other. If, for example, just one reference sample is taken from the middle of the assembly area, the sample will consist mainly of green seeds and the red seeds will therefore be underrepresented. However, if more small samples are taken from different places of the assembly area, the reference sample will be representative.

If a root certificate for the mixture is issued, the reference sample is best taken by sampling every harvest according to its weight. For example: Three harvests of three root certificates should be mixed. The first harvest weights 1.000 kg, the second the third weigh 500 kg each. The sample should contain two parts from the first harvest and a part of the second and the third harvest respectively. Even after careful effective mixing, one can take a representative sample, if the samples are taken from different places. How to take a representative reference sample from plants Cut small branches (5 cm) from 100 trees from different bundles. How is the harvest characterized? First of all the description of the harvest requires the data of the root certificate; especially relevant is the precise location and the quantity of the harvest. The data of the of the seed inspection, which is required by law (especially the TKG), is also relevant part of the the procedure. From the harvest quantities and the amount of living seeds per kilogram the maximum amount of possible producible plants are calculated. Therefore, a certificate always refers to a maximum amount and a period of validity which differs from tree species to tree species. In the case of a checkup, the lot can be characterized by the different genetic markers or by stable isotopes so they can be compared to other reference samples. What to do in plant cultivation in nurseries? Frequently seed lots are given away for cultivation, because specialized companies are able to obtain better yield. If the product is certified, it should be assured, that the returned plants are from precisely the same seed lot as the sent plant. If there is no trust, the cultivation company should be considered wether either to cultivate the plants oneself or to engage another company with the cultivation. The responsibility always lies with the the holder of the certificate. Which marker and methods are applied in the certification procedure? A routinely applied characteristic/feature is the TKG 2, which is not a marker. Seed lots of the same tree species often differ considerably in size of the seeds. Lots which comprise big seeds, have a high TKG. For comparison of lots the sieving test for granularity is occasionally interesting as well. There are homogenous lots, which mainly have the same seed size and lots, as well as nonhomogenous lots. Normally the control samples are performed with genetic features and markers. Depending on the tree species one can use biochemical- genetic marker, isozyme or apply DNA- marker. For DNAmarkers used for the reconstruction of ancestry, i.e. when comparing one seed sample with the 2 is an important parameter for the trade of seeds and plant breeding and cultivation. Die thousand kernel weight is especially used to calculate the seeds amount for cultivation

harvest stock, mt- DNA (cp- DNA) is more frequently used. Thus the influence of pollen can be excluded and the genetic structure of the seeds can be assigned to the mother trees.further markers are stabilizers. These work well to differentiate the occurrence of seeds which are geographically far apart. However, the study of forest plants is only possible in exceptional cases, because the content of these stabilizers due to the given natural conditions of the tree nursery or in the forest cultivation differs greatly. How can the trade route of the propagation/reproductive material be traced back? With the help of the reference sample, which are taken with every change of the owner, genetic structures may be compared. Modern procedures allow one to exclude ancestry, if certain results are present. What is the motivation for the certification process? It is the objective of the company to record their effort with regard to the traceability of their products. Therefore, they use an independent certification system in which: - they commit to the compliance of certain process sequences and - they submit to internal sanctions in case of non- compliance. How does the FfV procedure fall within the legal framework? The motivation for the participation in the FfV procedure is the 1 FoVG, which says: The purpose of the law is to preserve and enhance the biodiversity of the forest with its diverse and positive characteristics by provision of high quality and original forest reproductive materials... Who can obtain FfV- certificates? The procedure is due to competitive reasons open for all kind of companies within the EU. Theoretically every tree nursery or every harvest operation based in/incorporated in an EU country can take part in the certification procedure. However, if during the course of the procedure there is insufficient possibility for verification, we reserve the right to refuse certificates.