Newly revised standards for certification bodies published and a re-publication of the Continuous Improvement Procedure and the Ecosystem Services Procedure

The joint revision of FSC's general and scheme-specific standards for certification bodies has been completed and the updated versions are now published with clarified and improved  certification body requirements. The alignment with certification body requirements has led to republication of the certification requirements for ecosystem services and continuous improvement.

FSC has revised the following set of requirements:

1. FSC-STD-20-001 General Requirements for FSC Accredited Certification Bodies
2. FSC-STD-20-007 Forest Management Evaluations
3. FSC-STD-20-011 Chain of Custody Evaluations
4. FSC-STD-20-012 Controlled Forest Management Evaluations (moved to FSC-STD-20-007)
5. FSC-PRO-20-003 Transfer of FSC Certificates and License Agreements (moved to FSC-STD-20-001)
6. FSC-PRO-20-004 General Requirements for FSC Training Programme
7. FSC-PRO-30-006 Ecosystem Services Procedure: Impact Demonstration and Market Tools (Certification body related requirements are moved to FSC-STD-20-007)
8. FSC-PRO-30-011 Continuous Improvement Procedure (Certification body related requirements are moved to FSC-STD-20-007)

Key changes

Regulatory alignment

Regulatory changes as well as the upkeep of the scheme informed the main changes now reflected in the requirements. A key regulation is EC Regulation 765/2008. To comply with this European law, FSC has made the accreditation process under the ASI Two-Tier Assurance Program and conformance with ISO 17065 mandatory for certification bodies. Aligning with ISO 17065 has resulted in revised timelines for closing nonconformities, making certification decisions, and requiring the resolution of nonconformities before certification can be granted or maintained.

The scheme specific forest management and chain of custody standards were amended to provide further clarification and consistency for auditing of documents, records, sites and the determination of the auditing time.

Auditor performance

To address audit quality, auditor performance and shortage issues, requirements for monitoring auditor performance have been clarified, and a provision for auditor suspension has been added. The composition of the audit team, in relation to the audit's objectives, is also more clearly defined.

Strengthening integrity of FSC system

FSC has introduced safeguards to apply additional evaluation measures in cases of high-integrity risk through a risk-based approach.

Data entry and certification transfers

Updates to data entry requirements for the FSC certification database have been made, alongside improved processes for both voluntary and non-voluntary certification transfers, ensuring greater transparency and operational efficiency.

Alignment between certification body requirements

Some forest management-specific certification body requirements were moved from the general certification body requirements FSC-STD-20-001 to the forest management scheme standard FSC-STD-20-007 Forest Management Evaluations. Scheme-specific certification body requirements were also moved to Annexes of FSC-STD-20-007 . As such, certification body requirements for evaluating the Ecosystem Services Procedure (FSC-PRO-30-006) and the Continuous Improvement Procedure (FSC-PRO-30-011) are now included in FSC-STD-20-007. It also now replaces the Controlled Forest Management certification body standard (FSC-STD-20-012). The Ecosystem Services Procedure and Continuous Improvement Procedure have been re-published without the certification body requirements.   

Webinars

FSC will soon announce the webinars to present the revised requirements.

Please access the process page here to learn more about this joint revision.