Dear reader,

today's report from the FSC General Assembly shows that the continued justification of including Controlled Wood was a hot topic on Tuesday. In contrast, consensus building continued around actions necessary to improve certification body performance. Read more about these and other developments below.

Anne-Sofie Forfang

While FSC certified operations need to comply with social requirements, the consumer buying FSC products currently has no assurance regarding the social standards of companies involved in the chain of custody. It is time for the FSC system to address social issues in the supply chain Read more

"If nobody is happy, but most can accept the result, then we have found a good compromise", said the Executive Director of FSC André de Freitas in his opening speech at the FSC general assembly Read more

Can FSC improve and ensure strict implementation of the existing Controlled Wood (CW) system? If CW is phased out, what is the suitable timeframe? How will this impact FSC markets? Is there any alternative? Read more

Report from ongoing discussions in the three FSC chambers, who are all preparing for the final voting to take place on Thursday and Friday Read more

Opening the Forest Conference, the Chairman of the FSC Board of Directors Roberto Waack emphasized the need to focus on current challenges, such as the integrity of the system, reaching out to smallholders and tropical forests, and facilitating dialogue on FSC plantations Read more

Report from the side event on certification of smallholders, outlining key future activities to facilitate certificaton of small forests emerging from the meeting.  A  working group is looking into GA motions that could affect smallholders   Read more

According to Social Program Manager of FSC International Alan Smith, equitable access to certification, inclusion of core ILO conventions in the supply chain and protection of indigenous and marginalized people’s rights are core challenges when looking ahead Read more

According to Uwe Sayer from FSC Germany, stakeholder involvement hinges on proper understanding of how the FSC systems works. FSC Germany is involved in two projects focusing on the communication needs of stakeholders to enable their involvement Read more