Certification logos on a product page are easy to display and, unfortunately, just as easy to display without ever having earned them. Every major certification body — FSC, BPI, BRC — maintains a public database specifically so buyers don’t have to take a supplier’s word for it. Here’s how to actually check.
FSC Chain of Custody
FSC certificates are searchable through FSC’s public certificate database. Search by the certificate holder’s company name or by the certificate code itself (formatted like FSC-C######). A legitimate result will show four things worth checking every time: the certificate status (must read “Valid,” not “Expired,” “Suspended,” or “Withdrawn”), the certified company name (should match the supplier’s legal name, not just a trading name), the scope of certification (confirm it covers the actual product category — a certificate scoped to one material doesn’t extend to a different one), and the issuing certification body.
A detail buyers often miss: a company having an FSC certificate doesn’t automatically mean every product it sells is certified. The scope listed in the database is the actual boundary of the claim.
BPI Compostable Certification
BPI maintains a searchable online product database where every certified item is listed by manufacturer name, along with its certification reference number. Because BPI certification applies to specific finished products rather than a company in general, search for the exact product or SKU rather than just the manufacturer — a company can hold BPI certification for some items in its catalogue without every product qualifying.
BRC Global Standard for Packaging Materials
BRC (now BRCGS) certificates can be checked against the BRCGS official directory, which lists certificate number, grade, audit type, and expiry date. As with FSC, the certificate needs to be current — BRC certificates are reissued periodically following scheduled audits, so an expired certificate number found in old marketing material doesn’t confirm anything about current compliance.
Common Red Flags
- Certificate numbers that don’t appear in the issuing body’s database at all — the most direct sign of a fabricated claim.
- Expired or withdrawn certificates still referenced in current marketing materials.
- Company name mismatches between the certificate holder and the entity actually issuing invoices.
- Scope mismatches — a certificate valid for one material or product category being used to support a claim about a different one.
- Certification claims with no reference number at all — a legitimate certificate always has a specific code that can be looked up.
A Practical Habit
Verification takes a few minutes per certificate and is worth doing before a first purchase order, not after. For an ongoing supplier relationship, it’s worth rechecking periodically — certificates carry expiry dates and require reissuance, and a supplier who was legitimately certified two years ago may not still be.
Corncomp’s certificate numbers, standards, and direct links to each issuing body’s verification tool are listed on our Certifications page, specifically so this check takes a minute rather than a search. For background on what each certification actually verifies, see our guide to BPI vs FSC certification, or our material comparison, PLA vs bagasse vs FSC paper, for which claim applies to which product. Certification scope matters even more under tightening rules like the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive and US state plastic packaging laws.