Maintaining your certificate
In order to maintain its forest management certificate, the certified operation shall comply with the standards and meet any specific requirements set up by the assessment team.
Follow-up on corrective action requests
 In order to maintain its certificate, it is crucial that the operation complies with any Corrective Action Requests (CARs) issued by the assessment team by the specified deadline. If continued non-compliance is found after this date, minor CARs will be upgraded to major CARs, while non-compliance with major CARs by the specified timeline will lead to suspension of the certificate. Many operations report that although meeting a CAR can take some work, the process ultimately helps them to improve their overall management performance and efficiency as well as to reach their own objectives.
Use of trademarks
The certified operation is allowed to use the trademarks of the respective systems, while respecting rules of logo and trademark use. Within the FSC system, it is necessary to consult with NEPCon's authorized trademark service providers to obtain approvals for the use of the FSC trademarks. A PEFC certified operation should apply for a PEFC logo license.
Annual audits
 A forest management certificate is valid for a period of 5 years. During this time, both the FSC and the PEFC system require annual audits to be performed by independent third-party auditors. During annual audits, the company's continued system compliance is verified.
To remain certified, the operation must submit annual reports to NEPCon prior to our annual audits. Among other data, the reports shall include information about production and sale of certified materials and products. The annual audits will normally focus mainly on non-conformances and weaknesses in the operation's system, identified during the previous year's assessment or audit.
When this period is completed, the certificate has to be renewed by conducting a new, full forest management certification assessment.
dialogue with stakeholders
 Although stakeholders are mainly consulted by the assessors during main assessments, stakeholders are welcome to submit their commentsat any time. Such comments will typically be taken into account during the following audit. Our approach is to facilitate a good dialogue with stakeholders.
If external parties lodge complaints or inform about conflicts regarding FSC certified operations, NEPCon will follow our partner the Rainforest Alliance's policy for dispute resolution.
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