Draft 2-1 of Version 3-0 of FSC-POL-20-002 Policy for the Association with FSC is open for public comment from February 1, 2008 until March 31, 2008. This draft was produced taking into consideration the comments received on draft 2-0 of this policy.
FSC forest management certification is designed to provide a credible guarantee that all Forest Management Units (FMUs) included in the scope of the certificate comply with the requirements of the Forest Stewardship Standard specified on the certificate.
The objective of this standard is to clarify the principles to be followed by certification bodies when sampling FMUs and sites, and integrating the results to come to a reliable certification decision. The standard thereby aims to reduce the level of subjectivity and reduce the appearance of inconsistency between sampling levels implemented by different certification bodies in different situations.
This draft standard includes additional requirements for evaluation against the FSC Principles and Criteria of forest management companies in a stepwise program included in the FSC Modular Approach Program (MAP).
FSC welcomes comments and suggestions by any interested parties for the further improvement of Version 2-2, Draft 1-0 of FSC-STD-20-007 Forest Management Evaluation attached to this document for public consultation. Public consultation was open for a 45-day period from 31 December 2007, comments were sent to: Pina Gervassi p.gervassi@fsc.org.
Documents
Update December 12, 2007
The issue of partial certification has been debated since the early days of FSC. One of the main concerns of FSC members has been the risk of green washing by companies who certify only part of their operations. FSC proceeded to develop a policy on the issue (FSC-POL-20-002 Partial Certification of Large Ownerships, approved in June 2000), linking it with Criterion 1.6 of the FSC Principles and Criteria, which requires long term commitment to adhere to the FSC P&C.
Given the limitations of the currently applicable policy in addressing the concerns of FSC members and other stakeholders, in early 2007, the FSC Board of Directors mandated the FSC International Center to develop a new approach to the issue of partial certification. This new approach consisted in developing basic criteria for FSC to allow the association of a third party with FSC’s name and trademarks.
A new draft version of FSC-POL-20-002 Policy for the Association with FSC is available and the consultation period, October 19th to November 18th, is now closed. Given the volume and extent of the comments, a new draft is being prepared and will be available for a 60-day period some time in the New Year.
FAQs on the Policy for the Association with FSC (Prepared by FSC Canada)
In September 2004, the FSC Board of Directors endorsed a new set of standards aimed at allowing FSC certified companies to buy and supply non-FSC certified wood which had been controlled to avoid illegally harvested wood; wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights; wood harvested in forest which global environmental conservation priorities are threatened by management activities; wood harvested in forest being converted to plantations or non- forest use; wood from forest in which genetically modified trees are planted.
During 2005-2006, the FSC International Center has been mandated to monitor and review the new 'FSC controlled wood' standards taking into account experience with practical implementation and to resolve outstanding issues. To facilitate this process, the FSC International Center has set up a technical working group on controlled wood to give input to revised drafts of the controlled wood standards.
Bonn, Germany, July 2006: FSC International is nearing completion of its new Controlled Wood standards for forest managers as well as for manufacturers and other enterprises. The standards are designed to allow companies to demonstrate that when mixing uncertified wood with FSC wood they are avoiding wood that is illegally harvested; harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights; harvested in forest management units in which global high conservation value forests are threatened by management activities; harvested in forest management units being converted to plantations or non-forest use; or harvested from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted.
Martin von Mirbach from FSC Canada participated in meetings of the Controlled Wood Working Group in Bonn, Germany, when comments received during the consultation period were incorporated in a revised draft. This draft will be finalized shortly and will receive a final public review, following which it will be sent to the FSC International Board for approval.
Following motion #48 from the 2005 General Assembly, FSC International has been working on the process for the development of FSC International Generic Indicators for forest management. A first discussion paper was circulated for comments in June 2006 (FSC-DIS-01-014 Options for developing FSC generic indicators). The comments received on this discussion paper have been considered in the development of a new discussion paper (FSC-DIS-01-016 Proposal for the Development of FSC International Generic Indicators), which further elaborates on the proposed format for a set of FSC International Generic Indicators and proposes a two-phase process for their development.
At the FSC's General Assembly (2005), a motion which called for an independent evaluation of the SLIMFs initiative was passed.
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