関東森林研究論 文70-2(2020)

A case study of retail stores in Kanagawa Prefecture selling wooden products with forest certificationlogos
Katsuaki SUGIURA*1, and Yuki YAMAMURA*1*1 College of Bioresource Sciences, Nihon University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-0880, Japan
Abstract: The number of Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council (SGEC) forest management certifications has increased of latefollowing the attainment of the mutual recognition of SGEC and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) inJune 2016 in Japan. However, people’s awareness and knowledge of forest certification is still low. Therefore, the purpose of thisstudy is to clarify the opportunities for consumers to choose Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), SGEC, PEFC certified products, bysurveying products in retail stores. The survey participants consisted of furniture, home center, stationery, and children’s stores
frequented by consumers in Kanagawa Prefecture, all of which carry several products that are made from forest resources. The target
products are made of wood with the exception of price tags or packaging. We were able to identify forest management certification
logos on some stationery and do-it-yourself (DIY) products, but most of them were FSC certified. Some products were PEFC
certified, but there were no SGEC certified products in the various product categories.
Key-word: forest certification, FSC, PEFC, SGEC, logo

小売店で販売されている森林認証ロゴのある製品の実態―神奈川県内の店舗を対象として―
杉浦克明*1・山村祐貴*1*1 日本大学生物資源科学部
要旨：近年，特に SGEC 森林管理認証の件数は増加しており，2016 年 6 月には SGEC と PEFC の相互承認が認められている。しかし，森林認証の認知度は高いとはいえない。そこで，本研究の目的は，小売店の店頭にある製品に着目し，FSC，SGEC，PEFC 認証ロゴのある製品を把握し，一般消費者が認証ロゴ商品を選択できる機会を明らかにすることである。調査対象は，木質資源の製品を多く扱う神奈川県内の一般消費者が利用できる家具店，ホームセンター，
文具店，子ども用品店とした。対象製品は，それ自体がロゴの対象となっている木質資源由来のものとし，値札や包装に対するロゴは除外した。その結果，文具の一部の紙製品と DIY 用の板で森林認証ロゴを見ることができたが，その多くは FSC 認証のものであった。PEFC 認証ロゴのものは一部確認できたが，SGEC 認証ロゴの製品は確認できなかった。
キーワード：森林認証制度，FSC，PEFC，SGEC，ロゴマーク

most forestry enterprises were of the opinion that using certified

I Introduction
Forest certification leads to sustainable forest management

materials was not particularly valued by many people (3), andand identifies products as being sourced from forests. Forest

the certified area remained small compared with westerncertification logos help consumers in identifying and choosing

countries (2).

environmentallyfriendlyproducts.

WhiletheForest

Additionally, Japanese consumers are less aware of theStewardship Council (FSC) certified area of Japan has

meaning of forest certification and do not easily recognize

remained constant, the Sustainable Green Ecosystem Council

associated logos (2). According to Sugiura and Oki (7), forest(SGEC) certified area has been expanding (2). The SGEC has

management certification was obtained to implement

been granted mutual recognition with the Programme for the“sustainable forest management” and realize “profit increase.”

Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) in 2016. However,Some forestry entities canceled their forest management－5 －（受理日 2019 年 7 月 26 日）

certifications because there were no economic merits andproduct with certification logos.

certification maintenance was expensive (6). This shows that

One hundred and seventy-nine wood-derived products suchtheir effect and influence on the market are important factors foras diapers and wipes were analyzed at the children’s store (Table

forest certification schemes (4). As such, it is important to grasp

3). There were three differentsize disposable diapers with thethe actual status of products with forest certification logos in theFSC certification logo which also had a description of the logo.

market. This study thus focuses on certified wood-derived

Similar to the furniture store, large-sized products did not haveproducts.

logos.

Some previous studies investigated products with FSC logos,

At the home center store, 1868 items were investigatedbased on Sugiura et al.’s (8) method, in retail stores in(Table 4), and 93 items had logos. Many products with logos

Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture (8) and Morioka City,

were actually timber for do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. Among

Iwate Prefecture (1). However, these studies were conducted

them, 88 products were from three manufacturers, which are

before the recognition of SGEC and PEFC. Therefore, weKodaisangyo in Japan, Ngoclam Phuoc Tan Company infocused on PEFC and SGEC products in addition to FSC as ourVietnam, and Weyerhaeuser in the USA. Forest certification

study was conducted after the recognition of SGEC and PEFC.

logos were displayed for diapers and other products. TheThe purpose of our research is to determine the number ofdiapers were the same as the children’s store, but of differentsize.

certified logos found on products in retail stores and clarify theWe investigated 5438 items at the stationery shop andopportunities for consumers to choose such products.
Table 2 Number of products with forest certification logos
in furniture store

II Research subject and methods

Item name

The study considered four stores; stationary, furniture, home
center, and children’s stores in Kanagawa Prefecture as shown

Desks and others
Tables and others
ChairsCounters
Dressers
Beds (frame)
OthersTotalin Table 1. These stores were chosen because they represent thewide variety of wood and paper products that consumers buy
directly. These stores represent large-scale companies with salesof 10 billion JPY or more (sales of children’s shop was notpublicized).

Number Number of items withof items certification logo
381014108608080510
1006850This research uses the same as the one used by Sugiura et al(8). Products surveyed included the number of FSC, PEFC, andSGEC certified products in the store. The logo could beTable 3

Number Number of items withof items certification logo
Diapers
136
3Wet tissue
310Gate30
Baby chairs
90Total179
3
Item nameconfirmed without having to purchasing the product, and theproduct itself a certified product. Therefore, price tags andpackages were excluded. When counting the types of products,
ones with different sizes and colors were counted as differentproducts. As shown in Table 1, the survey was conducted during
2017.

Table 4
Table 1 Resarch stores and survey date

Number of products with forest certification

logos in children’s store

Number of products with forest certification

logo in home center store

Store nameLocation Store types

Survey dateNTSY

Fujisawa Furniture
Fujisawa Children's store
Yokohama Home center
Yokohama Stationery

29-31 Oct. 201714 Nov. 2017
4 Dec. 201723 Jun.-26 Sep. 2017

Number Number of items withof items certification logo
Woods for DIY
1541
89
Wooden play parts
300Craft play equipment
440Shrine
250
Slotted floor, stands, boxs
560Diapers
1004Toilet paper
250Tissue paper
220Wet tissue
250Total
1868
93
Item nameIII Results
We surveyed 685 large items, such as chairs, tables, desks,and counters at the furniture store (Table 2); we found no－6 －関東森林研究70-2(2020)

identified 115 items with logos (Table 5). Many of the products

Table 5. According to Sakamoto and Shiba (5), the expansion

with logos in the store were copy papers. Of the 308 types ofof CoC (Chain of Custody) certification in Japan spread tocopy paper, 74 had logos. On the contrary, only two items of theTable 5 Number of products with forest certification

629 notebooks analyzed had logos. Although there were nologos in stationery store

logos, Kokuyo’s 90 types of notebooks were marked with theNumber Number of items withof items certification logo
Postcards
1319
17Letters and others
1231
0Filler paper
130
4Envelopes
419
8
Report paper and others
950
Flashcards
530
Origami1220
Notepads
865
Notebooks
595
2
Notebooks (5 packs)
110
Notebooks (Binder)
230
Pencil (1 piece)
601
0Pencil (Pack)
114
5
Refill sheets
190
Half paper
860
Slip and others
1280
Copy paper
254
74
Copy paper (Japanese paper)
540
Cash delivery books and980others
Total
5438
115
Item namestatement “Forest certified paper is used in the middle paper.”However, these were not included in the survey result because
they did not have a logo. Pencils with logos were from two
manufacturers—Caran d’Ache in Switzerland and Staedtler inGermany. There were no pencils made in Japan withcertification logos. The only five products with the PEFC logo
in this survey were notepads, specifically, Rhodia’s block memofrom France. Other products with a logo were paper products,
such as postcards, filler paper, and envelopes.
Overall, from the investigation of 8170 items at four stores,
211 items were confirmed to display logos with a forest
certification logo display rate of 2.6% (Table 6). The FSC logo
was displayed on 206 items out of the 211 products and thePEFC logo was displayed on 5 items. No product had the SGEC
logo displayed. Approximately 3.8% of products (115 items
had certification logo, and 90 types of notebooks only had theinscription “Forest certified paper is used in the middle paper”)

Table 6 Analyzed store data

can be considered as certified. Since the logo display rate is only

Number Number of items withof items certification logo
Furniture6850Children's store
179
3Home center
1868
93
Stationery
5438
1158170
211

Store name Store types

2.6%, consumers may not be able to identify most certified

NTSY
Toltalproducts, and the awareness of forest certifications will likely
not increase.
Many products with logos were paper products as shown in%
0
1.7
5
2.1
2.6

Table 7 Analyzed products data
Store typeChildren's store
Home center
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Stationery
Home centerHome center
Home center
Home center

Store name Manufacturer Product nameTSY
YYYYYYYYYSSSSOOSATMMRSTCMAKKIHKDNW
PDiapars
Diapars
Post and greeting cards
Post and greeting cards
Notebooks and filler paper
Notepads
PencilPencilEnvelops
Copy paper
Copy paper
Copy paper
Laminated wood
Laminated wood
Laminated wood
Plywood

Types ofLicence code
certification logo
FSC
C018118
FSC
C018118
FSC
C021552
FSC
C019126
FSC
C011510PEFC
10-31-714
FSC
C007132
FSC
C005365
FSCC007204
FSC
C004748
FSC
C043994
FSC
C005497
FSC
C014816FSC
C134435
FSC
C106544
FSC
C001650

CountryJapan
Japan
Hong KongIsrael
Japan
FranceGermany
Switzeland
Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan
Japan

VietnamUSA
Indonesia

Numberof types
343
146
541873631256211211

Abbriviation O: Oji Nepia Co., Ltd., SA: Safe Power Printing & Box Mfg. Co. Ltd., T: TURNOWSKY LTD, MM: Maruman Corporation,
R: RHODIA, ST: STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG, C: Caran d'Ache Suisse, MA: Maruai Co., Ltd., KK: KOKUYO Co., Ltd., I:Itoya TimeValue Ltd., H: Hokuetsu Corporation, KD: KODAISANGYO CO., LTD., N: NGOC LAM PHUOC TAN COMPANY, W:Weyerhaeuser NR Company, P: PT Surya Satrya Timur－7 －affiliated companies due to its introduction by a leading paper

certification acquisition (6). Because most consumers placecompany, rather than demand from consumers (5). Additionally,emphasis on the function and quality of products, paying pricemajor stationery and paper manufacturers supplying products topremiums for certified products will be of low importance whenvarious parts of Japan have acquired CoC certification (1).

the awareness of forest certification is low. Therefore, it is

Examining the license code for country of origin shows thatnecessary to improve the recognition of forest certifications.

diapers and copy paper were from Japanese manufacturers

As Izumi (1) also pointed out, further study is required to(Table 7). However, most other products were from foreign

analyze the motivation (such as sales) behind companies

manufacturers.

acquiring CoC certifcations. In addition, it is necessary toinvestigate products of local dealers in the forestry area.

IV DiscussionAcknowledgments

Only 2.6% of the products surveyed had the certification logo.
Certification logos are often attached to price tags and productWe would like to thank everyone who cooperated at the store
survey.

packages. However, certification logos are not often displayedon wooden products. Manufacturers may not want to display aReferences

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IV Conclusions
The results of this study are similar to those of previous(7) Sugiura, K., and Oki, Y. (2018) Reasons for choosing Forest

research (1, 8). In other words, products with FSC logos are

Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Green Ecosystem

relatively limited. Although SGEC forest

manegement

Council (SGEC) schemes and the effects of certification

certified areas have increased and PEFC is now recognized, theacquisition by forestry enterprises in Japan. Forests: 9: 173 (12PEFC logo was only seen on Rhodia’s products while nopp)product had SGEC logos. As pointed out by Nagaike (4), the(8) Sugiura, K., Yamada, H., Yoshioka, T., and Inoue, K. (2014)

forest certification system has to be expanded to pass on theWhat is there an FSC-certified products with the logo?: Case

price premium to distributors and raise awareness.

study of products available for purchase in store. Abstracts ofSome forestry enterprises have stopped maintaining their125th Annual Meeting of the Jpn. For. Soc.: 222

certifications because they could not find any merit to－8 －