FSC Certification | Forest Stewardship Council

In 1993 an international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) non-profit non-government organization was developed that claims to protect and manage the forest world. Public concern to save trees and forestry products is increasing rapidly. So, to improve forest management socially and economically safeguarding ecological balance is necessary. Forest management set policies and procedures to improve management practice to preserve biological diversity and benefit the local and ensure sustainable development. FSC main motive directly or indirectly is to solve illegal logging, deforestation, and, global warming. FSC certified wood guarantees that the timber has come from the forest which is certified accordingly to cultivated. This standard assures that the forestry products the organization has been using for manufacturing are from a managed forest. The forest management system ensures that the practices undertaken are eco-friendly and globally recognized by the standard of FSC.

FSC controlled wood meet all the guidelines of the FSC standard. So both certified wood and controlled wood can be mixed. FSC Controlled Wood and FSC certified wood both follow the EU Timber Regulation. Controlled wood is harvested keeping in mind the environmental issues.FSC certified wood/products follow the Chain of Custody. FSC controlled wood avoid these source of wood - illegally harvested wood, wood harvested from non-forest use region, wood harvested from cultivation land.

Chain of Custody

FSC Chain of Custody verifies at each stage that the products used are from harvested forest i.e. from the source of material to end-user consumer. So, FSC certified products make sure that the products are checked at every stage of processing from raw material to the product delivered to the end-user are genuinely FSC certified.

Any organization involved in the process of packaging, labelling, cutting to size, transporting, of any forest-related products can claim and acquire FSC certification to embellish the FSC logo on the products. These include any trader, manufacturer, wholesalers, importers, builder, contractor, publishers all those who want FSC certified products. FSC logo is considered as "Gold Standard" of the forest because it ensures products traceability from a forestry point of view.

Also, Check —->> FSC Certification

FSC certification types:

FSC certificate can be single site owners, multi-site owners, or even group certification.

Single Site owner:

An organization is eligible for applying for single CoC certification if its business scope includes a single site or multiple sites (two or more sites) that conform to the criteria of the standard:

Single site under the scope of the CoC certificate is:

I. acting or be a holder of a certificate;

II. responsible for sales-invoicing of certified products and

III. non-certified materials or products;

Determining the use of the FSC Labelling and Trademarks.

Multiple site owner:

An organization falls under multi-site certification if the scope includes two or more sites (referred to as ‘participating sites’) that conform to the following criteria:

a. all the participating sites and the parent organization that hold the certificate are linked through common management and ownership; or

b. all participating sites:

I. have some kind of legal and/or contractual relationship with the

the organization is certified; and

II. have common operational procedures (e.g. same production,

purchasing and stores methods have the same product specifications, maybe an

integrated management software, etc); and

III. are somehow subjected to centrally controlled and administered and

controlled management system established by the organization which has

accountability, authority, and responsibilities beyond those related only for

certification, including at least one of the following:

• centralized procurement or sales function of forest-based items/

products;

• operation under the same brand (e.g. franchise, distributor,

retailer).

Group Certification:

A group FSC-CoC certificate is generally established by including two or more independent legal entities (called participating sites) in the scope of the certificate including the eligibility criteria:

a. Each participating site shall qualify as ‘small’ as defined by:

I. No more than 15 employees (full-time or equivalent); or

II. No more than 25 employees (full-time or equivalent) and a maximum total annual turnover of less than equal to USD 1,000,000.

The annual turnover criteria are only applicable to companies that have for-profit

activities.

b. All the participating sites are located in the same country, as the organization.

Reasons to use FSC certification

The main motive to get FSC certification is to maintain the balance in the environment especially in the forest biodiversity. Forest Stewardship Council opens the gate to new markets locally and globally to gain competitive benefits. FSC logo is the link between customer and the forest building trust in the manufacturer and the products they provide. FSC also enhances the creditability as the manufacturer is genuinely providing woods or can say harvested timber. Achieving this standard reduces the usage of illegal timber. Countries like Australia and the European States have banned the usage of illegal timber. FSC fulfills government law and has evidence by the audit done by sustainable forest management.

History of FSC certification

FSC was published to safeguard the forest resources sustainably and reduce deforestation. As more than half the area of forest is altered or degraded for other land use according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In the 1980s tropical deforestation was a major concern so to handle these various aids such as policy frameworks and mechanisms were implemented to reduce deforestation. But all the results were disappointing and negative.

After the 1992 Earth summit failed to fight against deforestation so community leaders, environmentalists, and a group of businessmen came together to form a council to save and protect the forest and introduced Forest Stewardship Council(FSC). In Toronto, Canada first AGM was held regarding FSC, and was decided to find an alternative of forest products and boycott forest products. In 1993 in Bonn, Germany by a founding assembly FSC was founded. In 1995 US chapter of FSC was established and now it is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Today in more than 80 countries, FSC operates to provide and manage the forest sustainably.

How to achieve FSC certification for an organization?

Now getting FSC certifications is not hard to digest. The FSC certifications are just a two-step certification process.

Step 1 Internal audit Stage-(Verification of legal requirements and the conformity of the standard with an organization)

Step 2 External audit-(Review of internal audit report & Certificate issuance)

FSC certifications validity is for five years and requires to undertake a yearly surveillance audit and re-certification after the expiry of certification. Obtaining the certificate clearly states that you value the resources and environment closely.

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