CW make or break 5 November 2008

The results of motions proposed on this issue will have critical impact on the development of the FSC system for years to come. A side event entitled "How controlled is controlled wood" debated the fate of the Controlled Wood concept.

Can FSC improve and ensure strict implementation of the existing Controlled Wood system? If the controlled wood scheme is phased out, what is the suitable time frame? How will this impact FSC markets? Is there a better alternative? These are only some of the very challenging questions facing the global FSC community during this assembly.

The concept of FSC Controlled Wood was first introduced in 2004 along with the FSC credit system. The credit system allows utilization of FSC certified raw material by companies such as pulp mills and particle board producers, for whom physical separation of certified from non-certified material during processing is complicated or impossible. The purpose of the CW concept is to avoid the most controversial types of material from products carrying the FSC-mixed labels.
 

Growth and setbacks

While the introduction of CW along with the credit system has enabled fast growth of FSC certificates in particular among the paper and packaging sectors, the success has not come without setbacks. Superficial implementation and weak enforcement of the CW requirements has resulted in very controversial fibers entering into FSC labeled products.

FSC has taken several steps to improve the rigour of the CW system including revision of the CW standard in 2006, publication of an advice note in April 2008 and requesting ASI to put more focus on certifiers’ performance. In parallel, additional evidence on misuse of the CW system has been uncovered. This has led Greenpeace and others to propose abolishing the CW concept and mixed production options from the FSC system. However, the possible return to a scenario where only products made entirely from FSC certified raw material can be FSC labeled creates concern among economic stakeholders.
 

Economic Stakeholders divided

For many companies, this would mean exclusion from FSC system until all raw material can be sourced as certified. The time period when this becomes a reality is uncertain, especially in Europe where a large share of raw material originates from small operations with smaller incentive to get certified.

However, opinions are divided over controlled wood even in the Economic Chamber: Northern members of the chamber are more interested in maintaining CW as part of the FSC system than their Southern counterparts, as CW is not used very much in the South.

Hopefully, the delegates will once again demonstrate the respect and cooperation needed to come up with balanced answers.