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Derogation Applications

Methodology for the Revision of the FSC-US Standards

FSC-US Regional Meetings, Summer ’07 – Summary of discussions

Principles and Criteria

U.S. Regional Standards

Family Forests Program

Announcement: FSC-US Draft Guidance on the Controlled Wood Standards Released for Public Comment

FSC-US has developed draft guidance for the FSC Controlled Wood standards (FSC-STD-40-005, FSC-STD-30-010) for wood procured in the U.S. and FSC-US is circulating these documents for public comment. The comment period will be open until July 31, 2007.

In late 2006, the Forest Stewardship Council revised the standards for Controlled Wood. These standards allow forest product manufacturers to demonstrate that wood that they use avoids the most controversial wood sources. Non-FSC certified wood can be used in FSC-Mixed labeled products if it is reclaimed wood or if it is Controlled Wood. All FSC chain of custody certificate holders will have to comply with this standard in their 2007 or 2008 audits.

Among the requirements for compliance with the Controlled Wood standards is the requirement to avoid the use of controversial wood sources by conducting risk assessments for wood that is not FSC certified, reclaimed or that is not verified as Controlled Wood by an FSC certification body. This assessment must evaluate the risk of wood being sourced from areas with issues surrounding the legality of harvests, violation of civil rights, high conservation value forests (HCVF), conversion, and genetically modified trees.

The FSC Controlled Wood standards advise certificate holders to seek assistance from FSC National Initiatives when conducting a risk assessment. The draft guidance documents being circulated for public comment by FSC-US are a preliminary step in providing this guidance on how to implement the Controlled Wood standards and develop a risk assessment for wood harvested in the U.S. FSC-US is also developing a Controlled Wood Resource Center that will be an online tool with the principle purpose of helping FSC certificate holders and others comply with the new FSC Controlled Wood Standards. It will allow companies to navigate the Controlled Wood standards, conduct risk assessments, and access a risk register for all forest producing regions of the world.

Comments on these guidance documents can be submitted through this webpage. Written comments are also welcome and can be sent to the FSC-US office in Washington DC.