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In the 1990s a wide array of non-governmental certification initiatives emerged as a way to promote the sustainable management of resources in sectors such as fisheries and forestry. In this paper, we examine two related questions about these initiatives: how does the institutional design of certification initiatives affect the way science is used in the development of certification standards and in whose interest is science employed? Using the empirical case of forest certification and the specific standards various initiatives have created to address the management of forest genetic resources, we show how structural aspects of decision-making processes affects the standards adopted and the rationalization for their appropriateness. Two basic models of decision-making—stakeholder participation and technical expertise—are discussed in relation to three certification initiatives active in North America—the Canadian …