FSC International is consulting a joint Review Report on two main chain of custody standards. The report outlines key topics to be considered during the revision process. Participate before 2 September 2022 in the Consultation Platform to add your feedback; all stakeholders welcome.
The core Chain of Custody Certification Standard (FSC-STD-40-004) specifies the requirements which apply to all CoC-certified and applicant organizations with respect to sourcing, processing, labelling, and sale of forest-based products as FSC certified. FSC certification of management systems is designed to provide a credible assurance that products that are sold with an FSC claim originate from well-managed forests, controlled sources, reclaimed materials, or a mixture of these. FSC CoC certification thereby facilitates the transparent flow of goods made from such materials through the supply chain.
The Chain of Custody Evaluations Standard (FSC-STD-20-011) provides the requirements to be followed by FSC-accredited certification bodies when auditing CoC organizations against applicable requirements of the FSC normative framework and integrating the findings to come to a reliable certification decision. This standard thereby aims to reduce the level of subjectivity and increase the consistency between sampling levels implemented by different certification bodies across different situations.
PSU has recommended initiating a full revision process of the Chain of Custody certification and accreditation standards to update the standards to incorporate new and emerging sectors and products categories, blockchain requirements, circularity principles, results from the Procurement Claims pilot and Cross-Border Credit pilot, and others.
The last full revision of the standards were approved in November 2016. Since this last revision, the application of new FSC input and output product groups have diversified and grown from biopolymers to forest-based textiles which requires to revise the standards to ensure their continued suitability for meeting industry needs.
The recent targeted revision completed in 2021 focused on the incorporation of the FSC Core Labour Requirements which integrated several interpretations and advice notes.
This public consultation will remain open between 26 July through 2 September 2022.