Closure of transaction verification on certified Aucoumea The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) announces the conclusion of the final phase of the transaction verification (TV) loop on FSC-certified Aucoumea supply chains. April 4, 2023 Category : Integrity and Disputes The results of the TV loop show no instances of false claims or other fraudulent activities by the certificate holders included. Thus, FSC has not issued any blockages. The Aucoumea TV loop, originally known as “African Timbers TV Loop”, was launched by Assurance Services International (ASI) and FSC to identify trade patterns and volumes of certified Aucoumea wood, and related products in global supply chains. The TV loop followed the supply chains of Aucoumea klaineana products from producer markets in Africa to processing and consumer markets in Europe and North America. The scope of this TV loop included transaction data from 521 certificate holders for the period January to December 2019. Key findings from this TV loop at the time of closure include: At the end of the first phase of the TV loop – TV data collection and analysis – ASI had reported the possibility of high levels of volume mismatch. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that most instances of volume mismatches occurred due to variations in accounting periods, human error, issues with the invoices submitted for the TV loop, etc. The supply chain clusters that were investigated in phase two (also known as TV investigation) all source their timber from FSC-certified forests in Gabon. As part of the second phase of the TV loop, ASI collected wood samples from three chain of custody certificate holders in Gabon, France and Netherlands. These samples included roundwood, plywood and veneer samples. The inclusion of sample collection and wood testing is part of FSC's investment in exploring ways in which wood identification technology can be used to improve the traceability of timber in certified supply chains. For more information about the preliminary results of this TV loop, click here. To read the article announcing the launch of this TV loop, click here. To read about FSC’s work on wood identification techniques, click here. For more information about the various phases of a TV loop, click here.