FSC lifts the blockage on An Viet Phat Energy

In December 2023, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) lifted the blockage that was placed on An Viet Phat Energy in 2022 for making false claims on a large volume of wood pellets they sold. FSC took this decision after receiving verified information from An Viet Phat Energy’s certification body about the company completing the required corrective actions, as prescribed in FSC’s normative framework.

The lifting of An Viet Phat Energy’s blockage is conditional on a commitment from them to respond to additional checks and information disclosure requests by both the certification body and Assurance Services International (ASI) in the years to come. They have also agreed to participate in verification activities led by FSC in the future.

As a result, An Viet Phat Energy has been re-certified; their FSC trademark licence has been reinstated and the company may resume the activities prescribed within the scope of their FSC certificate.

According to FSC’s Advice Note 18, FSC may lift the blockage placed on a company prior to the completion of the original blockage period if they submit such a request.  Upon receiving a request for ‘lifting blockage’ from a blocked company, FSC conducts a thorough evaluation of the implications of ‘lifting blockage’, including the integrity and reputational risk posed by the company.

In An Viet Phat Energy’s case, FSC determined that the blockage could be lifted provided they entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FSC and fulfilled the stipulated corrective, preventive, and remedial measures.  According to the MoU, An Viet Phat Energy had to:

• Undertake a root cause analysis of the identified issue (false claims).
• Implement preventative measures to ensure alignment with FSC’s normative requirements.
• Provide compensation for the non-conformities identified through the Asia Wood Pellets transaction verification loop and to contribute to development and integrity endeavours in Vietnam and the Asia Pacific region. This amount was determined in accordance with FSC-PRO-10-003. 

An Viet Phat Energy’s commitment to corrective actions, the verification of the same by their certification body, and their willingness to allow additional checks by the certification body aim to prevent the recurrence of a major non-conformity like deliberate false claims in the future.

For more information about the normative requirements for lifting blockages, please refer to clause 4 of ADVICE-40-004-18 V1-0 and V2-0. 

Read more about why FSC blocked An Viet Phat Energy here.

For more information about the Asia Wood Pellets transaction verification loop, click here.