The WWF Forest Certification Assessment Tool has rated FSC as the forest certification scheme that best meets the WWF’s standards (CAT). FSC Certification is one such certification that is given to business owners who can comply with the requirements laid down by the FSC’s standards.
So what is FSC? How many types of FSC certifications are there? Let’s check them out in the article below.
1. What is a FSC certificate?
FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is a non-governmental organization created ín 1993. It is the world’s only organization dedicated to developing forest certification standards. FSC evolves based on one of the following solutions:
- Forest management certification is required for organizations managing natural forests, plantations, or firms in the supply chain.
- Chain of custody certification is required for the company using products from the forest to certify the origin of the wood.
FSC guarantees product traceability from the forest to the point of sale. The FSC mark, which is regarded as the “gold standard” of forest certification by major environmental organisations, is used to identify products made from ethically harvested forests.
2. Types of FSC certification
After being accredited and assessed by the FSC, an organization receives FSC certification. Currently, there are three types of FSC certifications. They are FSC-FM, FSC-CoC, FSC-CoC/CW.
a. FSC-FM (FSC Forest Management)
FSC Forest Management certification is a market-based conservation project aimed at promoting environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and financially successful forest management.
The idea behind FSC-FM certification is very simple. A logging firm proves that it operates at a high level in terms of both ecological and socio-economic elements of forest management. As a result, it wins accreditation from a third-party certifying organization and can access markets that are ready to pay higher rates for sustainably produced forest products.
b. FSC-CoC (FSC-Chain of Custody)
The FSC-Chain of Custody is the process through which goods are distributed from their point of origin in the forest to their final destination. This certification is usually issued to organizations that can prove that their wood products are from certified sources.
The FSC-CoC allows for verification of FSC certified material use throughout the manufacturing process, from the forest to the customer, combining all phases of processing, transformation, manufacture, and distribution. At Starprint Vietnam, we have achieved the latest FSC-Chain of Custody certificate in 2018.
c. FSC-CoC/CW (FSC Controlled Wood)
FSC Controlled Wood is forest-based timber that has completed a rigorous risk assessment procedure under FSC’s Controlled Wood criteria and has been judged to have a low risk of not satisfying 5 of the most fundamental FSC principles.
Forest management organizations that meet the five FSC Controlled Wood standards can supply FSC Controlled Wood to the FSC Chain of Custody operations. FSC Controlled Wood promotes the production of FSC Mixed Sources by giving FSC certified businesses the tools they need to manage non-FSC certified wood in their product groups to avoid the wood produced in the most socially and ecologically harmful methods.
3. 10 principles of FSC
There are 10 principles that FSC applies, including:
- Compliance with laws
- Workers’ rights and employment conditions
- Indigenous peoples’ rights
- Community relations
- Benefits from the forest
- Environmental values and impact
- Management planning
- Monitoring and assessment
- High conservation values
- Implementation of management activities
4. Expiry of a FSC certificate
The FSC certificate is valid for a period of 5 years. During those 5 years, there will be 4 monitoring audits of your company to check compliance with the FSC’s criteria. FSC-FM certification covers up to 187,580,025 hectares of forest globally. Only roughly 169,704 hectares of forest in Vietnam have gotten this certification as of now, which is a total of 13 certificates granted.
You can visit here to find out more about other certificates and technologies in the printed packaging industry, discover certificates that Starprint has achieved, or contact us for more information.