The field tests were conducted in Australia, Romania and Vietnam and aimed to put into practice and test the draft FSC CW standards that have been updated as part of the revision of the CW system. The results have been fed into the wider revision process and are being used to further refine the standards before they are finalized and submitted to the FSC Board of Directors for approval.
The field tests, which differed in scope and location, involved different types of companies and both natural and plantation forests. They tested two different standards – the second drafts of the revised standards Forest Management Requirements for FSC Controlled Wood Certification (FSC-STD-30-010) and Requirements for Sourcing FSC Controlled Wood (FSC-STD-40-005) – as well as the revised drafts of the accreditation standards which are used by certification bodies to evaluate companies – Evaluation of FSC Controlled Wood at Management Unit Level (FSC-STD-20-012 ) and FSC Accreditation Standard for Chain of Custody Evaluations (FSC-STD-20-011). All four documents were also released for stakeholder consultation in 2014.
The report describes the field tests that took place and issues that arose from each. It also briefly discusses the changes that have been made to the standards by FSC International and the technical committee working on the CW process to rectify the issues that were raised.