## 4 Life-Cycle Assessment
### Life-Cycle Assessment and Forest Certification  
The International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) 14000 Environmental Management System Standard series is the basis of several forest certification systems and it also provides guidance to forest products companies in term of environmental practices at the mill and forest levels. It provides for three types of environmental eco-labeling claims: Type I is a voluntary, multiple criteria, third party verification system and life cycle assessment is used to define the environmental characteristics of the product or process (environmental labeling program). Type II involves an environmental performance statement that is made by the evaluated entity without third party verification (self declaration). Type III presents independently verified and quantifiable environmental performance data (environmental declaration). Forest certification systems do not match perfectly with any of these three claim types. Some eco-labeling aspects are very compatible with forest certification systems, like voluntary, multiple criteria, and independent verification. But forest certification systems typically do not make any claims on life cycle assessment type impacts of forest products or forest practices. Instead, forest certification systems attest to the quality of the forest management practiced. What is being certified is the production process that went into the final product, rather than the end product itself [59]. Some forest certification standards go beyond forest management quality and include chain-of-custody audits that track wood from the forest to the point of sale, but none include life cycle assessment types of analyses to determine the least overall impact on the environment [60].  
Forest certification does offer consumers proof that forest products with the certification logo come from well-managed forests and that ethical and environmental standards were met in their production. In that sense they are systems of identification [61]. The logo of the forest certification scheme confirms to the consumer that the products are certified and have met environmental and social standards in their production. But, forest certification, while it does involve labeling, is not Type III eco-labeling. Forest certification is a single-issue label and it only certifies relative to the quality of one issue, forest management [60]. Type I eco-labeling is applied to product groups and involves the entire life cycle of the product or process, from raw materials acquisition to end disposal. Eco-labeling does look at the issue of forest management, but it is only one of the many issues considered [61].  
Both forest certification and eco-labeling are voluntary. While eco-labeling schemes are not common in the forest products industry, they do exist [62]. Eco-labeling systems require vast information on the life cycle of a product and this information is difficult and expensive to obtain. So these systems tend to be publicly funded and administered and the focus is, thus, usually on national concerns or national industries [62]. Forest certification systems tend to be private sector and non-governmental organization based. Both forest certification and eco-labeling systems are relatively young and their relative impact on forest management is difficult to judge [61].