Submit Your Comments on the Chain of Custody Standard

Press Releases

The Chain of Custody Standard (FSC-STD-50-40-004) is currently under review and the deadline to submit comments on the first draft is fast approaching. Don’t forget to get your comments in by February 28, 2015.

At the Forest Stewardship Council’s 2011 General Assembly (GA), the membership made a resounding call to simplify, clarify, and ensure the chain of custody standard is correctly implemented. FSC initiated a process to revise the chain of custody (COC) standard (FSC-STD-40-004), to put into action five of the motions approved at the GA. We are now seeking stakeholder feedback on the revisions.

Main Changes:

• Fewer documents: The revised CoC Standard will consolidate existing advice notes and key standard interpretations to reduce the number of normative documents.
• Clearer credit system requirements: The credit system section has been revised for clarity.
• New cross-site credit system: A new section has been added following the evaluation of a cross-site pilot test involving 15 companies around the world. Read more about the Cross-site credit project & pilot.
• New transaction verification section: A new section has been added to improve transaction transparency and strengthen trust between FSC certified businesses. As this is a major change in the FSC system, we are very open to your comments on this section.Read more about transaction verification.
• A change in the classification of pre-consumer reclaimed paper: The draft standard proposes pre-consumer reclaimed paper to be counted as a creditable input towards the labeling threshold, equal to post-consumer reclaimed paper and FSC-certified materials. Read more about the pre-consumer study and decision.
• A change in the labeling threshold for FSC Recycled label: The draft standard proposes that the minimum FSC recycled label threshold is reduced from 85% to 70%.

Track the Changes – Crosswalk Document
In a concerted effort to facilitate the review process, a Crosswalk document has been put together to (1) identifies all the differences between the existing standard and the draft revised standard, (2) provides context for the change. You can view these changes in greater detail, view additional information designed to simplify the review process, and to provide your feedback. See documents below for a copy of the cross walk.

North American Analysis
In January 2015, FSC US convened a North American Chain of Custody Technical Advisory Group (NA TAG), comprising North American certificate holders and other stakeholders with expertise in the objectives and applications of the FSC Chain of Custody (COC) system. The NA TAG was constituted in order to review the draft FSC COC standard currently under public consultation, evaluate the impacts of proposed changes, provide suggestions for improvement, and flag issues for further analysis by all parties commenting on the standard. By conducting this evaluation, we hope to contribute to the global discussion and provide a platform for robust consideration of the draft COC standard. Please note that the analyses and perspectives presented in this document are that of the NA TAG and are not part of an official evaluation by FSC International. See documents below for a copy of the analysis.

Submitting your Comments
FSC Canada encourages Certificate holders and all other stakeholders to provide comments on the draft. It is encouraged, that whether you agree or disagree with the proposed changes, that you submit your feedback. The last day for stakeholders to submit their feedback is February 28, 2015.

Use the Comment Form below to provide your comments. Send your feedback to Dorothee Jung, Policy Manager, at d.jung@fsc.org

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