Forest Stewardship Council

Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international non-profit group offering forest certification. The Council was founded in 1993 by representatives of 25 different countries. The Council currently consists of 600 members representing 70 countries. Membership includes environmental groups, forest products companies, forestry professionals, community forest groups, forest product certification organizations, and indigenous peoples organizations (FCRC 2005).

Ten principles and 57 criteria addressing legal aspects, labor rights, indigenous rights, multiple benefits and environmental impacts of forest management have been developed by the Council. While these criteria are applicable globally, the Council encourages national working groups to adapt the criteria and principles to their local conditions. In the United States, there are nine approved regional standards. Certification by FSC includes a pre-interview, documentation review, and field assessment to determine compliance with the approved standards.

The FSC program includes three tracking approaches. These approaches allow those companies that manufacture or trade certified products to assure the credibility of claims on products by tracking materials as they leave the forest and become products down stream. This "chain of custody" (COC) certification process is like any inventory control system. Chain of custody tracking allows products to be segregated and identified as having come from a particular source, as for example, from an FSC-certified forest. FSC tracking options include a physical separation model that involves separately storing and using certified material; a mixed model which allows the use of both certified and non-certified materials; and a batch model tracks on certified materials which are used in manufacturing during specific periods.

There are also three product labels under the FSC system. A FSC pure label is for products made with 100% certified materials. Materials that are made from 100% recycled content get the FSC recycled label. The FSC mixed label is reserved for products in which a minimum of 10% of the material is certified. These labels are only applied to products that do not include raw materials from controversial sources. Controversial sources include illegally obtained materials, genetically modified trees, ecologically significant forests, and forests where social conflicts exist.

The FSC logo identifies products which contain wood from well-managed forests certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council.

For more information on the Forest Stewardship Council program in the United States, view their website at www.fscus.org.