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Technical Updates

Wednesday, 01 February 2006
Revised Pesticides Policy - New Guidance Documents Available

FSC’s revised policy on pesticides (FSC-POL-30-001 FSC PesticidesPolicy (2005)) was approved by the FSC Board of Directors in December 2005.

The policy is designed to implement the relevant requirements of the FSC Principles and Criteria for Forest Stewardship and has three main elements:

  • The identification and avoidance of highly hazardous pesticides;
  • Promotion of ‘non-chemical’ methods of pest management as an element of an integrated pest and vegetation management strategy;
  • Appropriate pesticide usage.
    • [/list]The policy requires the establishment of indicators and thresholds for the identification of pesticides recognized by FSC as being particularly hazardous, based on their active ingredients. An FSC guidance document is available which lists those pesticides that have been classified as “highly hazardous.”

    The policy prohibits the use of these “highly hazardous” pesticides in FSC-certified forest management units unless such use has been explicitly justified on specified grounds and is supported by a broad range of national stakeholders (social, environmental, and economic). In these circumstances the FSC Board of Directors may approve derogation for the specified use in a defined geographical area (usually national or sub-national). The guidance document describes the basis on which applications for derogations may be justified, and the procedures for review and decision-making on derogation requests.