Saturday, 03 September 2011
FSC Forms a Group Chain-of-Custody Technical Working Group
Starting in September 2011, FSC International has initiated a review process of the policy for Group Chain-of-Custody (CoC) certification, with completion expected by Spring of 2012.
FSC has specifically designed Group CoC certification to make certification accessible to small operations for which individual certification may be too costly. In this type of certification, community producers and other types of small enterprises, such as carpenters, artisans, and small printers, may form a group and apply for a Group CoC certification.
The Group Chain of Custody Policy (FSC-POL-40-002) was first published in July 2002 and underwent a revision in September 2004. In August 2010, the policy was amended to address procedures for the development and approval of national eligibility criteria for group CoC. As a result of this process, a new eligibility criteria of $5 Million USD annual turnover was approved for the United States.
FSC is now conducting a complete review of the Group CoC Policy with a Technical Working Group (TWG) that consists of the following individuals/organizations:
- Adam Wiskind – Scientific Certification Systems (US)
- Chris Gibbons – American Green Consulting (US)
- Corris Van den Berg – SGS (South Africa)
- Emily Crumley – FSC-US (US)
- Govinda Paudel – FSC Individual Member (Nepal)
- Ulf Sontag – Group Manager of Zertifizierungsgruppe Deutschland (Germany)
Stay tuned for public consultation opportunities about the Group CoC standard. Please contact Emily (e.crumley@us.fsc.org, 612-812-1447) if you have comments, questions or feedback in relation to Group CoC certification.