FORESTRY  STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL

FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible  management of the worldﾒs forests.Established in 1993 as a response to concerns over global deforestation, FSC is widely regarded as one of the most important initiatives of the last decade to promote responsible forest management worldwide. FSC is a certification system that provides internationally recognized standard-setting, trademark assuranceand accreditation services to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.

The FSC label provides a credible link between responsible production and consumption of forest products, enabling consumers and businesses to make purchasing decisions that benefit people and the environment as  well as providing ongoing business value.FSC is nationally represented in more than 50 countries around the world.

FSC chain of custody certification

FSC Chain of Custody tracks FSC certified material through the production process - from forest to the consumer, including all successive stages of procesessing, transformation, manufacturing and distibution.

Only FSC CoC certified operations are allowed to label products with the FSC trademarks. The FSC label thus  provides the link between responsible production and consumption and thereby enables the consumer to make socially and environmentally responsible purchasing decisions.FSC CoC certification assists your business with improved market access in an increasingly environmentally  aware sector. It demonstrates that you take the environmental concerns of your customers and staff seriously. Furthermore, CoC certification can be used to demonstrate compliance with public or private procurement  policies and specifications.

Why should I become FSC certified? 

Being FSC Certified shows that you comply with the highest social andﾠ environmental standards on the market. As public concerns about the state of the worldﾒs forests and timber resources increases, FSC provides you with a credible solution to complex environmental and social issues. An FSC certificate label is an effective way to get public and consumer recognition of your responsible practices. This gives you credibility with customers and business partners as well as financial institutions and watchdog organizations. FSC certificationhelps to protect your brand and reputation and it allows you to access highly environmentally sensitive markets. Increasingly, governments and others specify FSC certified products in their procurement programs.FSC forest managemet is the certification of the forest or plantation area. FSC has also developed special programmes for small operations.

 FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) certification tracks the FSC material through the production process all the way to  the store. FSC products can contain parts or proportions which are not fully FSC Certified. The need to allow  inclusion of non-certified material has arisen because there is not yet rnough FSC raw material available and certain products are not yet developed to FSC quality.

 FSC Controlled Wood certification controls the non-certified material in FSC products to avoid timber from the  most destructive and harmful practices, such  as illegal logging or human rights abuses

4 Steps towards FSC certification

FSC does not issue certificates itself. The certification process is carried out by independent organizations called certification bodies. These certification bodies assess forest management and chain of custody operations against FSC standards. Only FSC accredited certification bodies are authorized to issue FSC certificates.

Contact one of the several FSC accredited certification bodies. To give you a first estimate regarding cost and time needed the certification body will need  some basic information about your operation. The certification body will provide you with information about the requirements for FSC certification.

1.    You decide which certification body you would like to work with and sign an agreement with the    certification body

2.     A certification audit will take place to assess your companyﾒs qualifications for certification

3.    The data collected at the audit is the basis of the audit report based on which the certification body makes the certification decision.

4.    If the certification decision is positive, you receive a FSC Certificate. If the audit revealed that your operation is not yet in full compliance with FSC requirements, then you can go for further audits after you have implemented the changes suggested in the dertification report FSC Certificates are valid for five years. The FSC accreitation certificate body will conduct annual surveillance audits to verify your continued compliance with FSC certification requirements These steps are the same independent on whether you want to become forest management or chain ofcustody certified.

PEFC

The PEFC Council (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, founded in 1999 which promotes sustainably managed forests through independent third party certification. The PEFC provides an assurance mechanism to purchasers of wood and paper products that they are promoting the sustainable management of forests.PEFC is a global umbrella organisation for the assessment of and mutual recognition of national forest ertification schemes developed in a multi-stakeholder process. These national schemes build upon the inter-governmental processes for the promotion of sustainable forest management, a series of on-going mechanisms supported by 149 governments in the world covering 85% of the world's forest area.PEFC has in its membership 35 independent national forest certification systems of which 25 to date have been through a rigorous assessment process involving public consultation and the use of independent assessors to provide the assessments on which mutual recognition decisions are taken by the membership. These 25 systems account for more than 200 million hectares of certified forests producing millions of tonnes of certified  timber to the market place making PEFC the world's largest certification system. The other national members  schemes are at various stages of development and are working towards mutual recognition under the PEFC processes.The PEFC Council today presented a new international Chain-of-Custody Standard to track wood flows from certified forests to final consumers that can be used by all forest certification systems worldwide toprocured material. Instead of having different national Chain-of-Custody (CoC) systems, PEFC provides the opportunity to have one single common international Chain-of-Custody standard valid in all countries. Thisholistic approach provides consistency and efficiencies for international companies operating in more than onecountry.Its new structure allows the Chain-of-Custody standard to be easily implemented into companies' quality andenvironmental management systems e.g. the ISO 9001 and 14001 standards. Group Chain-of-Custodycertification, a new element of the standard, is now available for all countries as a cost effective solutionespecially for small companies. Furthermore, stringent verification requirements for uncertified wood have beenincluded. Companies that procure uncertified material from countries with a higher risk of unsustainable sources now have to implement independent second or third party verification safeguards assuring the exclusion of illegally logged wood.What is unique about the new PEFC Chain-of-Custody is that it enables wood processing companies to procure certified material from different countries using different national certification systems or labels and to control the wood flow with only one CoC system" explained Ben Gunneberg, Secretary General of PEFC. "Once thepercentage of certified material coming from PEFC endorsed schemes reaches the required threshold,companies can market the resulting products under one label, the PEFC logo." The new CoC standard was developed in an extensive process including a public consultation period and was approved by the PEFC General Assembly at its annual meeting in Santiago, Chile. Currently more than 1,700  PEFC CoC certificates have been issued and the number is growing rapidly.

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