FSC Certification as a Tool of Traceability and

FSC transaction verification for wood pellets

supply chains in the Asia
Vinh, 27th April 2021

Dr. Vu Thi Que Anh

FSC Vietnam Country Manager

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 Overview
• What is FSC?
• FSC as a tool of traceability
– How to verify FSC wood
• FSC transaction verification for wood pellets
supply chains in the Asia

1
What is FSC?

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 What’s FSC?

• Established in 1994 as global forest certification

scheme.
• Voluntary third-party certification for responsible
forestry and its products
• Connects responsible forestry and forest product
producers with the consumers.
3
• Promotes environmentally responsible, socially
beneficial and economically viable management of
the world’s forests.
• Transparent, balanced governance based on three
chambers (environment, social and economic)
• Supported by environmental and social civil society
and leading corporations in the industry.

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WE ARE

33% 33% 33%

Economic Environmental Social
5
Leading Corporations choose FSC

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Social/Environmental Civil Society Support

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FSC Asia Pacific
❑ Establishment of FSC: Mexico, 1994
❑ FSC Head Quarter: Bonn, Germany
❑ FSC APAC Regional Office in Hong Kong since 2011
❖ 10 National Offices/Representatives in Australia, New
Zealand, China, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, India,
South Korea, Thailand (Greater Mekong) & Vietnam
❖ Network development in Taiwan, Singapore,
Philippines, Papua New Guinea & Nepal
❖ APAC Business Forums in 2017(Hanoi), 2018 (Mumbai),
2019 (Shanghai), 2021 (Hong Kong)

Together We are FSC

8
FSC safeguard mechanisms
 Third party verification: Independent accreditation organization ASI*
controls Certification Bodies
 Strong dispute resolution system: addresses and investigates failures in
the implementation of FSC requirements across the system
 Effective policy for association: any organization associated with FSC
commits to avoid unacceptable activities inside and outside their certified
areas
 Supply Chain Integrity: long-term commitment to systematically address
integrity risks in supply chains of certificate holders (e.g. randomized fiber
tests. transaction verification)
 Transparency & inclusiveness of the system (e.g. public audits, public
consultations)
 Termination of rights (e.g. withdrawing of trademark use rights,
9
certification)

*Assurance Services International: http://www.asi-assurance.org/s/

 FSC Policy Framework
Independence: FSC
does not issue any
certificate, but sets the
Policy and Standards
Oversight: Assurance
Services International
(ASI), responsible for
applying the FSC
standards to accredit
and control CBs.
Regulation: 1,751 FM
certificates (222

Certification bodies million ha)

45,276 CoC
certificates

(CBs) evaluate, monitor

and issue FSC Auditing and Issuing FSC Certificates
certificates according to FSC® F000100 FSC® A.C. All rights reserved

the FSC standards .

 FSC supply chain
For a product to be claimed as FSC certified (through a product label or sales
documentation), there must be an unbroken chain of certified organizations
covering every change in legal ownership of the product from the certified forest
(FM) up to the point where the product is finished or sold (CoC) to brand and retail.

Processor
Forest Brand

Cert. code ACB-FM/COC-###### ACB-COC-###### ACB-COC-###### ACB-COC-######

1. FM certification 2. Chain of Custody (COC) certification 3. FSC Labelled Products

10 Principles and 56 Criteria, with It maintains the unbroken supply chain and tracks the FSC-certified MMCF used by Brands
locally developed indicators, from forests to converters to shelf (100%, Mix, Recycled)
11
applicable to all types of forests (i.e. FSC products sold are really coming from FSC sources) Allows end consumer to
worldwide, including natural forests distinguish products from
and plantations FSC sources
NOTE: CoC Certification is required if FSC claims in sales documents are required in cases where subsequent customers want to use the FSC certified products as input for the
manufacturing of other certified products or for re-sale as FSC certified.
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 What is Responsible Forestry?

Principle 1
Principle 10 Compliance Principle 2
Implementation of with Laws Worker’s Rights
Management and Employment
Activities Conditions
Principle 9 Principle 3
High Conservation Indigenous Peoples’
Values Rights

FSC Principles for

Forest Stewardship
Principle 8 Principle 4
Monitoring and Community Relations
Assessment

Principle 7 Principle 5
Management Benefits from the
Principle 6
Planning Forest
Environmental
Values and
Impacts 12
Forest Management Cont’d
FM Development in Asia Pacific (Mha, as of 1st Jan, 2021)
10

APAC: 8.6 mil. ha 6

Global: 222 mil. ha
5

FM Area (ha)
3
> 3 mil.
1 – 3 mil.
2
500 k – 1 mil.
100 k – 500 k
1
50 k – 100 k
< 50 k
0
1997 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

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Vietnam Forest Area Total (ha): 220,270

A chain of custody system means demonstrating:
routines & responsibilities

• Where did you buy the wood from?

Purchasing

• What happened to the wood when you owned it?

Receiving
• Whom did you sell the finished product to?

Storage • How do you organize and document your CoC system?

Production Outsourcing & sub-contracting

Sales & delivery • How many products are eligible for labelling?

Record keeping
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Chain of Custody Certificates

CoC Development (as of 1st Jan, 2021)

APAC Global

50000

45000
Vietnam:
APAC: 16,971 40000
Global: 45,056
35000

30000

25000

CoC (No.)
20000
> 10 k
1k–2k 15000
500 – 1 k
10000
100 – 500
10 – 100 5000
< 10
0
1998 2000 2005 2010 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

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Vietnam FSC CoC certificates: 997

FSC Labels

FSC on-product labels

Affixed by Certificate Holders on products to illustrate the FSC status of the forest-based content
Allow end consumer to distinguish products from FSC sources

FSC 100% FSC Recycled FSC MIX

The product is made At least 70% of the
All materials are materials contain FSC-
from eligible recycled
from FSC-certified materials (post- certified sources and
remaining are from eligible
sources consumer and pre- recycled fibre or FSC
consumer reclaimed) Controlled Wood

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 FSC Controlled Wood (CW)
• Can be mixed with certified or recycled materials to produce
FSC Mix products

Five FSC controlled wood categories of unacceptable sources

From forests in
which high From forests From forests in
Harvested in
conservation being converted which
Illegally violation of
values are to plantations genetically
harvested traditional and
threatened by and non-forest modified trees
human rights
management use are planted
activities

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How to Verify FSC-certified Materials
NO
Does the supplier hold a valid FSC certificate? NOT FSC-certified
YES NO
Does the certification scope of the supplier include the relevant NOT FSC-certified
product type?
YES
Do sales documents (e.g. invoices, delivery notes) from NO
the supplier include FSC claims (e.g. FSC 100%, FSC NOT FSC-certified
Mix XX%) and the certificate code of the supplier?
YES FSC Mix
Which FSC claim is written in the sales documents (e.g. Certified FSC Mix materials. These
invoices, delivery notes) from the supplier? can contain certified wood from
certified forests, FSC Controlled
Wood, and reclaimed materials
such as woody construction waste.
FSC Recycled
FSC 100% Certified FSC Recycled materials. It is likely
FSC-certified materials from FSC-certified forests that this material contains woody
construction waste.
FSC Controlled Wood NO
The wood cannot be considered as
Does your organization hold a valid FSC certificate? FSC Controlled Wood because FSC
Controlled Wood can be only traded
YES
between FSC certificate holders.
FSC Controlled Wood. It is virgin wood verified to have low risk of
originating from unacceptable sources, which include illegal logging.
However, there is a possibility that materials with higher FSC claims are
downgraded to Controlled Wood. In such cases, these materials can include
reclaimed materials such as woody construction waste.
FSC claims only involve the forest-based materials in products. FSC claims do not provide any information on non-forest-based materials, or
neutral materials, such as agricultural residues, including whether the product even contains such materials.
 Sourcing FSC wood
• FSC-certified materials can ONLY be sourced
from FSC-certified suppliers
The validity of certificates can be checked through
the FSC public certificate search at:
https://info.fsc.org/certificate.php

The sale of certified materials by a non-certified

organization is considered a false claim.

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 FSC certificate database
https://info.fsc.org/certificate.php

Verify
• Validity of the certificate
• Certificate scope
• Product category
• Certification claim of product
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 Sourcing FSC wood
Wood sourced from an FSC-certified organization
may not always be certified
• Most FSC-certified organizations handle both
FSC certified wood and non-certified wood.

• To confirm the certified status of the material,

purchase documents such as invoices and
delivery notes must be checked for FSC claims
regarding the material (e.g. FSC 100%, FSC Mix
xx%) and the supplier’s certification code.

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How to verify FSC claim

Certificate code

FSC Claim

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 Sourcing FSC wood
FSC-certified products do not necessarily come from
FSC certified forests
FSC claims only provide information on the forest-
based materials contained in the products. Regardless
of the type of claim,
FSC claims do not provide any information or assurance
on whether the product contains non-forest-based
materials (neutral materials) such as agricultural
residues.

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 Sourcing FSC wood
FSC-certified products do not necessarily come from FSC certified forests
FSC claims only provide information on the forest-based materials
contained in the products.
“FSC certified = from FSC-certified forests” =“FSC 100%” claim;
• FSC Mix
Inputs for production of FSC Mix products include “claim-contributing
materials”: the calculation of the FSC percentage or the amount of product
that can be sold as certified; and “other materials” that can be mixed but do
not contribute to the FSC percentage or the amount of product to be sold as
FSC-certified.
Claim-contributing materials
o FSC 100%: Wood produced from FSC-certified forests.
o FSC Post-consumer reclaimed material: Forest-based material that is
reclaimed from end users after being used for its intended purpose, e.g.
construction waste and domestic waste.
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 Sourcing FSC wood
• Non-claim-contributing materials
o FSC Pre-consumer reclaimed material: Forest-based material that
is reclaimed from secondary manufacture processes or an industry
that is further downstream, where the material has not been
intentionally produced.
o FSC Controlled Wood: Wood evaluated through a defined risk
assessment process as having low risk of originating from any of
the following unacceptable sources:
1) Illegally harvested wood;
2) Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights;
3) Wood from forests where High Conservation Values are threatened by
management activities;
4) Wood from forests being converted to plantations or non-forest uses; and
5) Wood from forests in which genetically modified trees are planted.

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 Sourcing FSC wood
FSC-certified products do not necessarily come from FSC certified
forests
• Neutral Material
Non-forest-based materials such as agricultural residues are
considered neutral materials that do not count towards the FSC
percentage in FSC Mix products.
The content and amount of neutral materials are not visible from the
FSC product claims

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 Sourcing FSC wood
FSC-certified products do not necessarily come from FSC certified
forests
FSC certification system allows for the downgrading of FSC claims of
higher value to claims of lower value. It is theoretically possible to sell
FSC 100% or FSC Mix wood as Controlled Wood by downgrading the
FSC claim

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 FSC’s Response to Fraud
• The FSC system allows for the mixing of wood from
– non-FSC-certified forests such as Controlled Wood,
reclaimed materials and neutral materials,
– the large amount of certified materials on the market
does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing involving the
FSC system.
• Any claims of fraud that threaten the credibility of the
FSC certification system are investigated and decisive
measures taken against certificate holders found to be
responsible for the misconduct.

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 FSC Supply Chain Integrity Program
• Transaction verification
– Compare transactions reported by customers and
supplier along the supply chain to expose
mismatches / false claims
– wood pellet supply chains in Vietnam and
Thailand
• Wood identification/ species testing
• Origin Test
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 FSC transaction verification for wood pellets supply
chains in the Asia

• FSC and Assurance Services International received

questions and allegations about the FSC-certified wood
pellets supply chain's integrity in the region.
• Selected certificate holders in Asia are required to
participate in transaction verification for FSC wood
pellets (W3.6 wood pellets).
– Japan and Korea are major importers of wood pellets
from South-East Asian countries such as Vietnam
and Thailand.

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 Conclusion
• FSC provides trusted, reliable, useful tool of
traceability and mitigate risk for illegal wood.
• Certified status of purchased materials need to be
verified through documents.
• FSC system takes strong measures against companies
that trade with non-conforming products and/or use
false FSC claims. TV Announcement.

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Thanks for your attention!
Dr. Vu Thi Que Anh
FSC Vietnam Country Manager;
email: vu.queanh@fsc.org; Tel:
+84(0)982249195
https://www.facebook.com/fs
cinvietnam
https://www.facebook.com/gr
oups/427786661846999

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