Extreme growth and bottlenecks
The fast growth of the FSC scheme continues, according to a prognosis presented during the FSC Global Paper Forum held on 9-10 June in Germany.
Based on the development during the first months of 2008, a staggering 46% growth rate was predicted in 2008 for Chain of Custody certifications. The same level of growth within certified forest area is expected. The development in the paper, packaging and fibre sector is the main reason for this development.
The exceptional growth within the system has caused a new bottleneck: The capacity of FSC accredited certification organisations. In countries such as France and the US, certification organisations have not been able to increase their capacity quite as fast as necessary to meet the sharply growing demands. Participants at the paper forum reported that 6 to 12 months waiting time for a chain of custody assessment is common.
“Fortunately, we are still able to provide services within a couple of weeks in our region - Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and Russia”, says Peter Feilberg, Director of NEPCon. “We responded to the growth a couple of years ago by establishing a comprehensive training program for auditors, ensuring that we can quickly adjust our capacity to market demands”.
