Tuesday, 23 July 2024
GROUP ELIGIBILITY FOR FOREST PRODUCTS REVENUE THRESHOLD RAISED TO $10 MILLION
© FSC / Julián ManriqueOver the last couple of years US Chain of Custody (COC) Group Managers had discussed with FSC US their concern over the number of group members they were losing because the members exceeded the forest products revenue threshold of $5 million USD. A number that was set in 2010 and had not been revised since.
The discussions led to several Group Managers working together on the process to request a change in the eligibility criteria. A process that took more than a year and included research, creating a socio-economic report, conducting outreach to affected stakeholders, and identifying any conflicts.
From Public Consultation to Evaluation by Policy and Standards Unit
Once those steps had been completed, FSC US then conducted a month-long public consultation identifying the proposed changes and seeking additional information. After the results of the public consultation were tabulated, they were combined with the socio-economic report, and a letter from the FSC US Board of Directors, into an application packet that was sent to FSC International’s Policy and Standards Unit for evaluation.
On June 20, 2024, FSC published the new US COC criteria raising the threshold of forest products revenue from $5 million to $10 million USD or 25 full time equivalent (FTE) employees. The addition of a staff limit was viewed as beneficial to eligibility and would allow those certificate holders with small staff numbers but high revenues to also be eligible for a COC group.The publication of the threshold can be found in FSC-PRO-40-003a. Please note that this is only applicable for US COC groups.
Interested in Joining a COC Group Under the Updated Threshold?
If your company is interested in joining a COC group in the US, please see the listing of group managers on the FSC US website - https://us.fsc.org/en-us/certification/chain-of-custody-certification/coc-group-certification.