In this webinar, members had the chance to ask the candidates questions, ask about their position on relevant topics, and their vision for the future of FSC under their leadership.
This two-day meeting covered relevant FSC topics for members in North America, including:
FSC Global Strategic Plan & Implementation Framework
FSC Priorities in North America
General Assembly Update
Thematic Discussions on topics including: solid wood market development; climate & ecosystem services; showcasing additional value for certificate holders and more.
The FSC Remedy Framework is now open for public consultation, until 10 May 2022. FSC looks forward to receiving inputs and suggestions from its stakeholders on ways to improve the efficacy of the FSC Remedy Framework. FSC invites all its stakeholders to participate in this consultation process, by clicking here.
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is seriously concerned about allegations regarding bamboo toilet paper containing other timber fibre. The allegations made through an investigative media channel, allude to FSC-labelled toilet rolls.
Effective 25 February 2020, organizations seeking to source controlled wood from Chile and Honduras are required to use the latest FSC risk assessment to conform with standard FSC-STD-40-005Requirements for Sourcing FSC Controlled Wood.
The FSC risk assessment for Chile is only in Spanish, and the FSC risk assessment for Honduras is only in English.
The FSC Interim National Standard (INS) of Austria applies to all types of organizations working in natural forests and plantations in the country, including small and low intensity managed forests. The INS is also applicable to non-timber forest products (see section ¨A.2 Scope¨of the INS for more details). The standard becomes effective on 01 March 2023.
The FSC Indigenous Foundation (FSC-IF) is driven by the challenge and opportunity that Indigenous Peoples manage a quarter of the Earth’s surface, including areas that contain some of the richest biodiversity in the world.
In August, the FSC International Board of Directors approved the report submitting the generic criteria and indicators, giving the green light to the development of auditable requirements for certificate holders.
The public consultation is open between 11 July and 14 August 2022 and will be used to collect stakeholder feedback on the joint review report of FSC-STD-20-001 V4-0 General requirements for FSC accredited certification bodies and two related procedures, FSC-PRO-20-003 V1-0 FSC Certificates and License Agreements and FSC-PRO-20-004 V1-2 General Requirements for an FSC Training Programme.
Since May 2016, the Governance Review Working Group (GRWG) has been working on an extensive analysis and review of FSC’s governance structure, mandated by motion 42 of the General Assembly 2014. This work included an intense deliberative process with conference calls, meetings, presentations, consultations, discussion papers, webinars, motion proposals and will conclude with the presentation of our findings and recommendations at the upcoming General Assembly in Vancouver.
The New Approaches project engaged family foresters and partners in the United States to update on project activities and pilot activities to benefit smallholders and communities.
The present document contains certification requirements for certifying forest operations from smallholders in plantations in Vietnam, developed in accordance with FSC's normative document for the development and maintenance of FSC Forest Stewardship Standards. Revisions of FSC Forest Stewardship Standards are ongoing, and all existing standards will be transferred to the revised Principles & Criteria version 5-2. All standards are valid until replaced by a new FSC Forest Stewardship Standard.
FSC had decided to waive the Annual Administration Fee (AAF) for all types of certifications in Ukraine from Q2/2022 until the end of Q4/2024, regardless of their certification status.
In August 2024, FSC decided to reinstate the AAF for certifications in Ukraine starting 01 January 2025 in a phased approach.
This Advice Note serves to implement this decision.
The following requirements aim to ensure that the certification body decision making entity has sufficient information on which to base its decisions with respect to conformity with FSC forest stewardship standards, and to help FSC ensure that there is consistency in decision making between different certification bodies.
FSC Remedy Framework defines permanent and effective measures required for remedy of harm caused by unacceptable activities as defined by the Policy for the Association of Organizations with FSC V2-0 or by conversion between 1 December 1994 and 31 December 2020.
Depending on when the unacceptable activity occurs/occurred, FSC will determine which policy version is used as the point of reference. If the unacceptable activity occurred prior to 2023, version 2-0 of the policy will be applied, whereas if the unacceptable activity occurs in 2023 or beyond, version 3-0 of the Policy for Association will be applied. To access Policy for Association, version 2-0, click here . The Policy for Association is an expression of the values shared by individuals and organizations associated with FSC. It defines six unacceptable activities that associated individuals and organizations and their corporate group commit to avoid in both certified and non-certified operations. The Policy for Association serves as a risk management tool for FSC, protecting the credibility and reputation of the FSC brand and organizations associated with it.
Completed NRA for Chile.This document is an assessment of the risk of sourcing material from unacceptable sources in a given country, developed according to FSC-PRO-60-002 V3-0 EN The Development and Approval of FSC National Risk Assessments.This risk assessment shall be used when implementing FSC-STD-40-005 V3-1 EN Requirements for Sourcing FSC Controlled Wood.Please Note: Certificate holders have until 04 September 2020 to adapt their due diligence system to include the changes brought about by FSC-NRA-CL V1-0. The CNRA will remain available for download until that date. ++ Click here to submit a change request for this FSC risk assessment ++
The objective of this document is to specify the requirements for FSC-accredited certification bodies for developing Interim National Standard (INS) or Interim Regional Standard (IRS), depending on the geographic scope of the standard, for the certification of responsible forest management and the responsible management of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) at the Management Unit (MU) level. These standards shall be based on the International Generic Indicators (IGI) and shall address the regional, national or sub-national conditions in which they are to be used and shall consider input from local stakeholders. The FSC Board of Directors at FSC International, acting through the Policy Steering Group (PSG) shall approve Interim National Standards (INS) before they can be used for FSC certification purposes. In March 2020 the revised procedure was published to reflect the FSC Board of Directors’ decision during their 82nd meeting to delegate the approval of INS to the Policy Steering Group.