Revised Chain of Custody Standard: Effective Date and Transition Period

The revised FSC Chain of Custody standards now include auditable social compliance requirements based on the International Labour Organization’s Core Conventions.

Chain of Custody Certification now includes (FSC-STD-40-004 V3-1)

• abolition of child labour, elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation, respect of freedom of association, and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• adopting and implementing policy statement(s) that encompass the FSC Core Labour Requirements;
• demonstrating compliance through certification with other social certifications;
• an option for other organizations such as certification bodies to submit certification schemes which comply to the FSC Core Labour Requirements, and;
• incorporating a risk-based approach via self-assessments in which organizations describe how they apply the requirements to their operations.

Chain of Custody Evaluations now includes (FSC-STD-20-011 V4-2)

• additional interview requirements for certification bodies/auditors to conduct interviews with representatives;
• a requirement for certification bodies/auditors to verify that the certificate holder has adopted and implemented the policy statement(s), and;
• a requirement for certification bodies to design and implement a system for auditors to evaluate the organization’s self-assessment and their conformity to the FSC Core Labour Requirements.

For the version comparison and more information about this process, please visit the project page.

For more information about the revised standards, please contact Vicky Tran, FSC Chain of Custody Policy Manager at v.tran@fsc.org and/or Leu Fedarovich, FSC National Representative at L.fedorovich@by.fsc.org  

With the release of version 3-1 of the FSC chain of custody standard, the Russian/Belarusian language online training module for certificate holders (and practitioners) will be developed. The new e-training module will also include a section on the FSC core labour requirements.

We will announce here as each language version is made available.