FSC Core Labour Requirements

While the protection of workers’ rights has always been part of FSC’s principles and mandatory for forest management certificate holders, the new FSC Core Labour Requirements have now also been included in the FSC Chain of Custody standard.

FSC certificate holders must demonstrate conformance to the FSC Core Labour Requirements, which cover the abolition of child labor, elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor, elimination of discrimination with respect to employment and occupation, upholding freedom of association, and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.

What do Certificate Holders need to do?

CoC Certificate holders must be able to demonstrate (to external third-party auditors) that they are implementing the new requirements in their operations, including:

Adopting policy statement(s) that encompass the FSC core labor requirements
Implementing these requirements in their operations
Describing this implementation, and identifying evidence of implementation, in self-assessments (which are verified by auditors)

The transition period for the new version of the FSC Chain of Custody Standard (FSC-STD-40-004-v3-1) began September 1, 2021. Both versions of the standard are valid during the transition period, but all certificate holders must be audited to the new standard by December 31, 2022.