System integrity

FSC Check is a tool to conduct a risk-based review of organizations and individuals that want to join or re-join the FSC system, thereby ensuring that their values are aligned with those of FSC, proactively using a tech-based solution. New applicants for certification and membership will be invited to go through FSC Check.

The tool identifies whether applicants for certification or membership have any connection to the six unacceptable activities mentioned in FSC’s Policy for Association, represent blocked or disassociated organizations or flag other reputational concerns.

FSC Check has been integrated within FSC’s existing system to ensure that new applicants for certification and membership do not face undue delays in their entry into FSC. The tool is housed within FSC Connect to ensure easy access for applicants once their profile is created in the FSC database.

Businesses, consumers, and other organizations worldwide depend on the integrity of the FSC label. We lead initiatives around the globe to identify, eliminate, and prevent inaccurate and false claims made anywhere in the supply chain.

We do this through:

Third-party certification services: Transparency is the foundation of FSC’s certification system. That is why independent, third-party certification bodies audit forest management and chain of custody certificate holders against FSC’s rigorous standards. This includes verifying material from FSC-certified forests, recycled sources, and controlled sources. Certification bodies must be accredited by Assurance Services International (ASI).  
FSC is the only global forest certification system with an integrated assurance programme that systematically checks its certification bodies. These certification bodies are accountable to strict guidelines to ensure their decisions are made impartially without regard to commercial, financial, or other pressures.

Integrity investigations: FSC works closely with ASI, certification bodies and other stakeholders and experts on investigations into supply chains of FSC-certified products, when there are indications of risk and deliberate violations. Through this process, FSC verifies that any claims made by certificate holders are accurate and match claims of their trading partners. 
We’re pioneering new ways of using technology to verify claims made throughout the supply chain, including blockchain and wood identification techniques. 

A unique feature of FSC is our Policy for Association. Under this policy, any organization connected with FSC must not engage in unacceptable practices, including:

• Large-scale conversion of natural forests
• Destruction of high conservation value areas and species
• Illegal logging and illegal trade of timber
• Human and traditional rights violations
• Workers’ rights violations
• Use of genetically modified organisms 

This policy applies not only to our certificate holders but also to other organizations within their corporate group. It covers destructive practices that take place anywhere, even in forests that aren’t FSC certified.

* For the complete and authoritative definitions of unacceptable activities, please refer to the full policy.  

We can’t undo the past, but we can repair the damage. The FSC Remedy Framework offers hope for millions of degraded forests around the world and the people that depend on them.

It gives companies managing degraded forests and to those previously expelled from the system a structured path to address past environmental or social harm and gain or regain eligibility for association and/or FSC certification. The framework provides a pathway to regeneration, healing and restitution.  

The process is rooted in Free, Prior and Informed Consent and requires co-created solutions with affected communities to rebuild trust between them and the company. Each case is supported by independent assessors and third-party verifiers and guided by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.