Friday, 01 November 2002
FSC Makes Significant Change to Percentage Based Claims Policy
As a result of a review conducted between June 2001 and September 2002, the FSC International Board of Directors recently authorized the FSC Secretariat to make significant changes to the “percentage-based claims" policy.
The most significant change will allow the use of the FSC logo on products that contain 100% recycled or reclaimed/rediscovered material that has been certified by accredited certifiers. Smartwood and SCS have had programs to deal with certification of reclaimed and recycled wood and fiber, and now FSC will be able to provide the basis for labeling those products as recycled/reclaimed.
Other significant changes include:
• Additional controls over the non-certified portion of wood included in FSC labeled products, including new requirements that reduce the risk of companies mixing material from controversial sources with FSC-certified material;
• New minimum percentages for chip and fiber products on an annual basis with flexible monthly minimums, to address logistical problems faced by paper, fiberboard and engineered wood product producers;
• Changes to allow for widespread use of the FSC logo via the separation of chain of custody control and logo usage rules and new flexibility regarding on-product statements tied to IS0 14021.
The new rules take effect once technical standards are fully completed by the Secretariat in consultation with stakeholders and approved by the FSC board. For now the current rules regarding percentage-based claims apply. If you are interested in helping to develop the new standards, contact Sofia Ryder at FSC International at sryder@fscoax.org.