FSC may soften Controlled Wood requirements for co-products
Two draft advice notes put out by FSC imply changes for companies currently operating within the transitory requirements that apply to co-product inputs used in FSC product groups under the FSC chain of custody standard.
Co-products are by-products of primary manufacturing of another product, as for example residual chips collected from sawing of logs at sawmills. This type of product will often compose 50 pct or more of the total volume processed at a sawmill.
Controlled Wood requirements do not apply to co-product inputs
The transitory requirements allow companies to exclude non-certified co-product inputs used in FSC Mixed products from the usual controlled wood requirements.
The deadline for expiration of the transitory requirements was initially set at the end of 2009. Last year, the transition period was extended by one year until the end of 2010, pending the finalization of a market analysis carried out by FSC.
It was envisaged that companies using co-products in their certified production would need to ensure that the co-product material used for production meets the FSC Controlled Wood requirements from the 1st of January 2011.
However, the draft ADVICE-40-005-17 allows the origin of co-products to be determined based on a written agreement with the supplier in combination with a plausibility check. While this is a new requirement, it constitutes a considerable relaxation of the full Controlled Wood requirements.
Reactions from stakeholders to this approach may be expected. During the last FSC General Assembly, there was a lot of focus on Controlled Wood. Stakeholders demanded full implementation of the system by closing all loopholes and consistently enforcing its requirements.
The advice is not final yet
The advice notes are only drafts, so changes may still appear. This article is provided as an early notice in relation to these important developments.
Only two weeks of consultation - inside the summer holiday season – were allowed by FSC for stakeholders who would like to comment on the draft. The consultation period ended on the 9th of August.
