NewPage Corporation announced that its Stevens Point, Wisconsin mill received chain-of-custody standards certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). FSC is an international, nonprofit organization that develops standards for responsible forest management, and accredits independent third-party organizations to certify forest managers and forest product producers to these standards.

This FSC certification (SW-COC-001930) signifies that the Stevens Point mill has in place a tracking system to control and verify certain levels of FSC-certified fiber and that the mill obtains at least 10% of FSC-certified fiber from FSC chain-of-custody sources. By achieving certification to this standard, the Stevens Point mill, which produces specialized labeling and packaging papers, is able to supply FSC-labeled products to its customers.

"We are pleased and proud to receive this recognition of our mill's adherence to the FSC standards of responsibility and accountability," said Ed Buehler , general manager, specialty papers, for NewPage. "This FSC chain-of-custody certification affirms to our customers that they can be confident that, from harvesting to manufacturing to delivery to their door, the specialty paper we supply to them is the product of our rigorous regard for sustainable practices."

"Chain-of-custody" is the traceable path logs take from the forest, through the pulp manufacturing process, to the paper mill, all the way through to the certified product sold to an end user. Compliance with this standard means that Stevens Point mill employees have established and engage in "best practices" to process pulp derived from certified suppliers who obtain logs that have been: legally harvested; harvested from areas where human rights are not violated; harvested from forests where high conservation values are embraced; harvested from areas that have not been converted from natural forest to plantations or non-forest uses; or not harvested from genetically modified trees. Chain-of-custody must be in place at all steps along the supply chain in order for a printed label or package to carry an FSC chain-of-custody label.

"The Stevens Point mill also has third-party certified Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) schemes chain-of-custody systems in place. The addition of the FSC certification builds upon our track record of making sure that only fiber from responsibly managed forest enters the mill," added Buehler.

For additional information, visit the company's Web site at www.NewPageCorp.com