We are now past the halfway mark in the public consultation on Draft 2 of the International Generic Indicators (IGIs) which is due for completion on the 31st of March. In February FSC Australia's Standards Development Group met to analyse Draft 2 and develop a position on behalf of FSC Australia's membership. The result of this was a draft discussion paper to be circulated with the membership for further feedback. That feedback will be included in the final submission that will go to FSC International's IGIs Working Group at the end of the month. This submission is an important step in developing an FSC Forestry Management Standard for Australia for two key reasons.
Firstly, we need to ensure the finalised IGIs are as appropriate as possible to the Australian context because the IGIs will be the baseline for developing all FSC National Standards. The IGIs will also be the baseline for Certification Bodies (CB) developing interim standards in any countries where an FSC National Standard does not exist yet. In order to ensure that Australian FSC certified forests are competing on a level playing field with any other countries where FSC timber is sourced we must confident that the IGIs will ensure consistency between FSC National Standards and CB adapted standards.
Secondly, the SDG's deliberation over the IGIs represents the first time in Australia an FSC multi-chamber committee has analysed FSC's forestry management standards in such detail. The task helped to gain greater understanding into the work that will be required moving forward. The group