Open now: Public consultation to strengthen FSC standards and continue fighting deforestation globally

This consultation includes system-wide changes to align with the intention of FSC’s Policy to Address Conversion and the updated FSC Risk Assessment Framework. The public consultation for these requirements is open from 1 February to 1 March 2024 on the Consultation Platform.  

A key part of FSC’s offer is the development of requirements for the FSC Regulatory Module: a voluntary module that complements existing FSC certification requirements to support EUDR compliance. It presents additional forest management, chain of custody and controlled wood requirements for organisations looking to use their FSC certification to support their efforts to demonstrate compliance with EUDR. The FSC Regulatory Module sets the framework and requirements to:  

• introduce a due diligence system to support EUDR compliance, including information collection, risk assessment and risk mitigation,  

• gather and transmit precise information on the origin of products (geolocation and time of production), and  

• adds further assurance that only deforestation-free material enters an FSC chain of custody value chain that needs to be EUDR compliant. 

To further tighten the FSC system to deliver deforestation-free products, FSC is also fast tracking the implementation of changes from the intention of FSC’s new Policy to Address Conversion, which was voted for by members in 2022. These changes are introduced in the form of Advice Notes to the existing certification system - which will ultimately ensure products from any sort of conversion that is possible, even in exceptional circumstances as in the Policy to Address Conversion, do not enter the system as an “FSC Claim.” Additional Advice Notes for chain of custody and controlled wood users are included in the consultation to support the implementation of the Regulatory Module and align with global best practices.