As of 1st of January next year, all FSC chain of custody certified companies will be using the same set of rules: The latest version of the FSC chain of custody standard (FSC-STD-40-004 version 2.1), which is already in force and used by many companies. At the turn of this year, the standard will become compulsory for all certificate holders, and companies still using older standards will need to switch to the new standard.
Reducing the number of chain of custody standards in force to a single standard is a major step forward with respect to reducing the complexity of the FSC chain of custody system. In the past, companies have used different Chain of Custody standards depending on the time of their initial certification and the chosen control system.
According to FSC requirements, NEPCon will evaluate all certificate holders during 2009 according to the new FSC COC standard. Compliance by existing certificate holders will be verified during their scheduled 2009 annual audit.
If your company needs to switch standard...
We encourage our clients to initiate their procedures revision early to ensure good compliance with the new standard.
For companies using the transfer (physical separation) system, the changes are not very dramatic and mainly relate to written procedures. For others, the process may be slightly more complex.
It should be noted that companies which are currently certified according to the first version of the FSC-STD-40-004 also need to revise their CoC system to meet version 2.0 of the same standard.
Companies who want to start using the credit system (an option introduced with the first version of FSC-STD-40-04) need to re-design their entire CoC control system. In this case, the company also needs to ensure compliance with FSC Controlled Wood standard.
The Controlled Wood requirements for companies with an FSC-mixed production became effective already from 2008 and are specified in the FSC Controlled Wood standard (FSC-STD-40-005 ver. 2.1).
Companies can contact NEPCon for a detailed comparison of the new standard with earlier versions. Clients are welcome to contact their local NEPCon staff for more information.