FSC certification ensures that products come from well managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits.
Forest owners and managers may want to become FSC certified to demonstrate that they are managing their forests responsibly.
Along the supply chain, FSC certification can provide benefits such as access to new markets.
Practices for best forest management
The FSC Principles and Criteria (P&C) set out best practices for forest management. In many countries, FSC Regional or National Standards are developed by FSC working groups. Regional and national standards transfer the P&C to the specific conditions and context found in each country or region.
Forest managers or owners who want to achieve FSC Forest Management Certification contract an FSC accredited certification body to carry out an assessment. The certification body checks that the operation complies with all relevant FSC requirements. If it does, they issue a FSC forest management certificate, which is valid for five years and monitored annually to make sure the company continues to meet FSC standards. If the forest owner or manager wishes to sell FSC certified products, they will also need chain of custody certification.
Chain of custody certification applies to manufacturers, processors and traders of FSC certified forest products. It verifies FSC certified forest products along the production chain. At each stage in the chain of processing and transformation, chain of custody certification is needed to confirm that FSC certified wood products are kept separate from uncertified products, or mixed in approved ways.
Types of FSC certificates
The FSC issues three different types of certificates: Forest Management, Chain of Custody and Controlled Wood.
The different types of certificates relate to different stages of production and subsequent progress of forest products through the value chain.
Verification against all FSC requirements ensures that materials and products with the FSC label are from responsibly managed forests.
Forest Management certification is awarded to forest managers or owners whose management practices meet the requirements of the FSC Principles and Criteria.
Chain of Custody certification applies to manufacturers, processors and traders of FSC certified forest products. It verifies FSC certified material and products along the production chain.
Controlled Wood is designed to allow organizations to avoid the categories of wood considered unacceptable. FSC Controlled Wood can only be mixed with FSC certified wood in labelled FSC Mix products.
Forest Management Certification
FSC Forest Management certification confirms that a specific area of forest is being managed in line with the FSC Principles & Criteria.
To achieve FSC Forest Management certification, the forest manager (or owner) contracts an FSC accredited certification body to carry out an assessment.
The certification body normally carries out a brief pre-assessment to allow them to flag up any areas where management may not meet the applicable requirements. Once the forest manager is sure they have filled any gaps, they can apply for a full evaluation.
The main evaluation process is an in depth review of the forest management systems and their results on the ground. The certification body sends a team of experts to assess social, economic and environmental conditions at the forest being evaluated.
At the end of the evaluation, the assessment team reports to the forest manager any areas where management does not meet the applicable requirements, known as ‘non-conformities’. If these are minor non-conformities, the certification body can issue a certificate, on condition that actions will be taken to deal with the non-conformities.
If these are major non-conformities, the certification body will not issue a certificate until the non-conformities have been solved.
Forest Management certificates are valid for five years, subject to annual checks. All FSC Forest Management certificates can be found here.
Smallholders, communities, indigenous people and forest owners who practice low intensity management can find the forest management certification assessment to be disproportionately expensive and complex for their situation.
For this reason, FSC has a dedicated program for supporting these operations, which provides streamlined certification requirements, technical guidance, specialized training and other resources, to bring the benefits of certification to small and community producers. Check the 'Smallholders Portal' for more information.
Chain of Custody Certification
Between the forest and the final consumer, forest products may undergo many stages of processing, transformation, manufacturing and distribution.
FSC Chain of Custody certification verifies that FSC certified material is identified or kept segregated from non-certified material through this chain.
FSC Chain of Custody certification allows companies to label their FSC products, which in turn enables consumers to identify and choose products that support responsible forest management.
Mixing of FSC certified and non-certified products must be done under controlled procedures that meet the FSC Chain of Custody requirements.
Chain of Custody certification is essential for businesses seeking to access environmentally and socially aware markets, or to demonstrate compliance with public and private procurement policies that specify environmentally responsible materials. These include the EU Ecolabel scheme for furniture, or the US Green Building Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.
Controlled Wood
The FSC Mix label was introduced in 2004 and allows manufacturers to mix FSC certified material with uncertified materials in FSC labeled products under controlled conditions.
This has enabled manufacturers to manage low and fluctuating supplies of FSC certified forest products, while creating demand for FSC certified wood. The FSC Controlled Wood Standard aims to avoid the use of wood products from ‘unacceptable’ sources in FSC labelled products.
The following types of wood and wood products must be avoided in FSC labeled products:
- illegally harvested wood
- wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights
- wood harvested in forests in which High Conservation Values (areas particularly worth of protection) are threatened through management activities
- wood harvested from conversion of natural forests
- wood harvested from areas where genetically modified trees are planted.
- Companies using controlled wood must carry out a risk assessment to identify the risk that their uncertified wood may come from these unacceptable sources. This risk assessment must be independently verified as part of the Chain of Custody certification.
- The FSC Global Forest Registry provides information on the risks of sourcing wood products from unacceptable sources throughout the world. It covers more than 150 countries and is designed to meet the needs of people sourcing FSC controlled wood.
