This decision was made at the recent FSC International Board of Directors’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, after the Board decided that the process needed to enforce the phase-out by the original date was too complicated (see the previously proposed advice note here: http://ic.fsc.org/fsc-adv-40-005-21.865.htm).
Kim Carstensen, FSC Director General, explained the decision was made in the spirit of strengthening the controlled wood system while keeping it simple.
“In consideration of FSC certificate holders who depend on the availability of controlled wood, and our responsibility to ensure the controlled wood system remains robust and transparent, the Board decided to shift all available resources towards the ongoing comprehensive revision of FSC Standard for Company Evaluation of FSC Controlled Wood (FSC-STD-40-005), so that it enters into force in 2016. The deadline for phasing out company risk assessments in countries without a National Risk Assessment or Centralized National Risk Assessment will be aligned with the introduction of the new version of the standard,” explained Mr. Carstensen.
Work will continue on the revision of the standard by various groups including the controlled wood technical committee and FSC’s policy and standards committee. It will be submitted to the Board of Directors in November 2015 for decision making. Should the Board approve the revised standard, it will have a planned effective date of mid-2016. It is planned that it will be aligned with the effective date of the revised chain of custody standard.
The Board also made a number of related decisions: Beginning in 2016, a controlled wood strategy will be developed, which will outline the goals of the system for the future; the ongoing process of developing national risk assessments and centralized national risk assessments will be reviewed to streamline and fast-track development and approval; and the transparency of the FSC Mix label, and related communications, will be reviewed and developed.