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Update on Motions that passed at the FSC GA 2008, 2011 and 2014

FSC® International

Forest Stewardship Council® Updated: 10 July 2015

FSC® F000100

© 2015 Forest Stewardship Council A.C. All rights reserved.

UPDATE ON MOTIONS FROM 2008, 2011 AND 2014

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Update on Motions that passed at the FSC GA in 2014 in Seville, Spain

No. Title Results Status Unit

GA2014-S.1 Amended

Motion to reaffirm the high standing of decision and motions approved by the GA and resolutions.

Passed Closed DO

GA2014-S.7 Amended

Changes to the Principles and Criteria (P&C). Passed Closed PSU

GA2014-P.11 Amended

Review of the FSC Certification System to adapt FC to small forest holders throughout the world

Passed In progress PSU/BDU

GA2014-P.12 Amended

Fast tracking the implementation of motion 18 from GA 2011

Passed In progress PSU

GA2014-P.27 Amended

Expert review of the stakeholder engagement processes for certificate holders and production of clear guidance for certificate holders and stakeholders

Passed Not started PSU/QAU/ALL

GA2014-P.29 Amended

The Logo Motion

Passed In progress BDU

GA2014-P.36 FSC CoC: Addressing Market Confusion and Deceptive Practices

Passed In progress BDU

GA2014-P.42 Amended

FSC Governance review Passed DO/NU

GA2014-P.45 Amended

Motion to improve the transparency of the FSC system

Passed Not started PSU/QAU

GA2014-P.52 Training and Qualification Requirements for FSC Audit Teams

Passed In progress PSU/QAU

GA2014-P.58 Evaluation and reorientation of certification of non-timber forest products (NTFP).

Passed In progress BDU/ PSU

GA2014-P.65 Amended

HCV2 – Intact forest landscapes (IFL) protection

Passed In progress PSU

GA2014-P.66 Amended

Auditor Rotation Passed In progress PSU/QAU

GA2014-P.68 Amended

Improvement of transparency in the FSC process to create Working Groups and Expert Panels.

Passed Not started PSU

GA2014-P.71 Amended

FSC Financial Transparency and Reporting Passed In progress DO/CSU

GA2014-P.83 Amended

Development of a Forest Certification Standard adapted to the realities of Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Forest Communities

Passed In progress PSU/BDU

GA2014-P.84 Amended

Development of an FSC Global Strategy Passed In progress DO

GA2014-P.88 Market strategies for small producers

Passed In progress BDU/PSU

GA2014-S.96

Reaffirming respect for the civil rights of indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and local communities in the purpose of the Organization.

Passed Closed DO



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Update on Motions that passed at the FSC GA in 2011 in Kota Kinabalu/Malaysia

No. Title Results Status

S. 1.1 Recognition of Social Issues and the role of Ecosystem Services Passed Closed

P.4 Motion to improve transparency and reliability of the GA outcomes

Passed In progress

P.8 FSC Global Network Financing Passed Closed

P.9 Inclusion of forest workers in the FSC Global Strategy Passed In progress

P.10 Ensuring FSC brand integrity and protection with respect to claims and rewards for the provision of ecosystem services

Passed In progress

P.16 Recognition of forest carbon by the FSC Principles & Criteria Passed Closed

P.17 Exploring the feasibility of carbon storage as a High Conservation Value

Passed In progress

P.18 FSC Certification of Plantations Passed In progress

P.19 Establishment of a Permanent Indigenous Peoples' Committee Passed Closed

P.20 Landscape Level Impacts of Big Operations Passed Closed

P.21 Operationalizing recommendations of the Plantations Policy Working Group

Passed In progress

P.23 Derogation procedures and National Initiatives Passed Closed

P.25 Use of interim standards for forest management certification Passed In progress

P.28 Incentives for obtaining and maintaining certification for communities and SLIMF

Passed In progress

P.29 New criterion for the eligibility of SLIMF in FSC-POL-20-100 Passed In progress

P.34 Focus on field performance in the FSC system Passed Closed

P.36 Annual Policy Manual for the FSC System, for use by CBs, NIs, ASI auditors, …

Passed Closed

P.38 Certified reclaimed paper material by FSC-STD-40-004 Passed Closed

P.42 Compliance with legality legislations Passed Closed

P.43 Policy to avoid misleading claims for FSC Mix products Passed In progress

P.44 Improving access for small enterprises to Chain of Custody certification through standards and support services

Passed In progress

P.45 Development of enhanced interaction between FSC and retailers Passed In progress

P.46 Clarify intent of Credit System and revise as necessary Passed In progress

P.47 Monitoring the increasing of FSC material throughout the COC Passed In progress

P.51 Strengthening the Controlled Wood System Passed In progress

P.53 Motion to promote FSC certified products and local markets through public procurement

Passed In progress

P.54 Motion to Actively Promote Certified Wood Products Over Competing Products.

Passed Closed



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Update on Motions that passed at the FSC GA in 2008

in Cape Town/South Africa

Number Title Results Status

# 6 Effectiveness and coordination of the FSC network Passed In progress

# 28 Strategy for increasing certification in the tropics Passed In progress

# 38 Single format for public summaries of FM certification Passed In progress

# 44 FSC certification of conservation and protection areas Passed In progress



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No. Title FSC GA 2014 Motion implementation update

GA2014-S.1 Motion to reaffirm the high standing of decision and motions approved by the GA and resolutions.

Status: Closed

Implementation summary:

Text integrated into the FSC AC Statutes.

Cost:

GA2014-S.7 Changes to the Principles and Criteria (P&C).

Status: Closed


Text integrated into the FSC Principles and Criteria.

Cost:

GA2014-11,58,83,88

Back to table

(various) Status: in progress


FSC International is launching a new initiative to develop relevant new solutions that benefit those who depend most substantially on forests, including indigenous peoples, small forest owners and forest-based communities; the groups collectively referred to within FSC as “Smallholders”. It is called the “New Approaches to Smallholder Certification”

project. This project is aligned with the FSC Global Strategic Plan 2015‐2020 and in direct response to a number of Motions from the 2014 General Assembly – 11, 58, 83 and 88. The objective is to glean the most successful elements of 20 years of experience in smallholder and community certification and blend together with the best current innovations, tools and solutions to modernize existing systems, integrate new concepts, develop new markets and position FSC as a key mechanism for forest managers´ self-determined development strategies. As with other initiatives intended to reposition FSC for the future within the global transformation process, the project will be executed in two distinct phases: Phase 1: Design (2015) & Phase 2: Implementation (2016-2017). A specific project structure and timeline has been put in place for the Design phase. Although the New Approaches project aims to address the specifications of General



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Assembly Motions and vision of the Global Strategic Plan 2015-2020, FSC wants to achieve more than that. This is an opportunity to comprehensively redesign FSC certification for smallholders in the broadest sense making it fit for purpose for the next 20 years, partnering with, listening to and learning from those whom we aim to serve, about their needs, values and the relationship to their forests.

Cost: Budget estimate 500 000 Euro plus staff time (3 FTE)

GA2014-P.12 Fast tracking the implementation of Motion 18 from General Assembly (GA) 2011

Status: in progress


This Motion calls for creating a chamber balanced process to consider challenges and opportunities related to restoration and conversion. This will include: a) how to address the “ownership loophole” in #6.10: b) What does an organization that has converted post 1994 need to do to be able to be certified: c) How to deal with subsistence conversion by communities.

The chamber balanced working group has been established and a consultant has been hired to draft alternative solutions to the questions raised in the Motion

Cost: FM Program: Budget estimate 39 000 Euro

GA2014-P.27

Back to table

Expert review of the stakeholder engagement processes for certificate holders and production of clear guidance for certificate

Status: not started (scheduled for 2016 / 2017)


This Motion calls for FSC to engage an expert in stakeholder process, research and best practice, to review and advise on the full range of issues and challenges faced by certificate holders and stakeholders in the current stakeholder engagement requirements .From this FSC to use this expert advice to produce a clear guidance document to certificate holders and stakeholders addressing those issues and challenges.

Cost: Budget estimate 50 000Euro plus staff time



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holders and stakeholders

GA2014-P.29

GA2014-P.36

Back to table

The Logo Motion

FSC CoC: Addressing Market Confusion and Deceptive Practices

Status: in progress


Trademark Revision (motion 29 and 36). A Technical working group has been set up for this work and a consultative forum is open for registration. The first survey has closed already but the forum is open for new joiners throughout the

revision process. Fill in the following form to join the forum.

In order to strengthen voice of certificate holders, FSC has included a certificate holder representative from printing sector into the technical working group. However, it will be of high importance to include voices of certificate holders of different sectors, regions and sizes to capture all viewpoints to benefit the revision throughout the process via consultative forum and other means.

Technical working group for the revision of FSC-STD-50-001 (V1-2):

• Jayco Fung (FSC Asia Pacific)

• Monika Patel (FSC Canada)

• Rosie Teasdale (FSC UK) • Corris van den Berg (SGS) • Gweneth Langdon (RA) • Ulf Sonntag (Zertifizierungsgruppe Deutschland-ZGD)

In the context of this revision, a question concerning implementation of Motion 29 calling for simplification of FSC trademark use requirements was raised. It should be clarified, that the motion is essential for the revision process but is also being addressed holistically through multiple projects and does not limit to revision of FSC-STD-50-001 alone. The projects going on at the moment with strong focus on the motion include:

• Revision of certificate holder trademark use requirements • Feasibility study on management of trademark approvals in the future • Pilot on self-approval of trademark use for certificate holders • Pilot planned to utilize online claims for product verification in the chain for finished, labeled products

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/78FQ3ZB



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Cost:

GA2014-P.42 FSC Governance review

Status: in progress


ToR of chamber-balanced Working Group to be discussed by the BoD in August. Call for members to be distributed soon after.

Cost: To be analysed based on the approved ToR.

GA2014-P.45 Motion to improve the transparency of the FSC system

Status: in progress


This Motion includes two main components:

1) Develop standard report templates that shall be used by all certification bodies, to ensure consistency in the quality and contents of assessment reports and to allow publishing of all types of CB assessment reports without disclosing confidential or sensitive information.

2) Establish a chamber balanced working group that shall define what specific type of information that shall be considered confidential or sensitive under the FSC system and thus be excluded from any publication.

In the case of Chain of Custody certification, a report template will be developed after the revised FSC-STD-40-004 is published, responding to item 1 above. The item 2 does not apply to COC since there are no public summary reports on COC certification.

Cost: COC Program: 0.3 FTE.

GA2014-P.52

Back to table

Training and Qualification Requirements for FSC Audit Teams

Status: in progress




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This Motion is addressed through the ongoing revision process of the General requirements for FSC accredited certification bodies (FSC-STD-20-001).

In addition to the Working Group guiding the overall revision process an Expert Advisory Group was established to develop an auditor framework to implement the Motion. The second draft contains significantly amended requirements for the qualification of auditors and new requirements for the content, duration and management of FSC training programs. A second round of public consultation is taking place in June/ July 2015. The revised standard is scheduled to be submitted for FSC Board approval in October 2015.

FSC will consider this Motion as being closed after a successful standard revision process.

Cost: QAU: 0.5 FTE and 46,350.00 euro for meetings and travel

COC: embedded in the general accreditation standard revision costs

GA2014-P.65

Back to table

Protection of Intact forest landscapes (IFL)

Status: in progress


This Motion calls FSC to direct Standard Development Groups (SDGs) and Certification Bodies (CBs) to develop, modify, or strengthen indicators within National Standards and CB standards that aim to protect the vast majorities of IFLs. The Motion states that ''If by the end of 2016 a relevant standard has not been implemented, a default indicator will apply that mandates the full protection of a core area of each IFL within the management unit. For this purpose, the core area of the IFL will be defined as an area of forest comprising at least 80% of the intact forest landscape falling within the FMU''

A Motion 65 Advisory Team has been established, consisting of the Strategic Management Team, regional directors and representatives of the largest IFL countries. The Motion has been interpreted and a work-plan for addressing the Motion has been drafted accordingly. The Advisory Team has monthly monitoring calls and the work-plan has been updated regularly since Dec 2014.

The regional PSU officers have been trained to advise the Standard Development Groups in addressing the Motion and templates for HCV Frameworks have been drafted including the indicators for addressing the motion

An IFL Task Force, consisting of the members of HCV Technical Working Group, has been established to develop guidance for the land-use planning of the IFL areas.

A high-level political IFL Solutions Group is in establishment, expected to be functional in the 3rd quarter of 2015.



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Cost: FM Program: Budget estimate 73 000 Euro

GA2014-P.66 Auditor Rotation Status: in progress


This Motion is addressed through the ongoing revision process of the General requirements for FSC accredited certification bodies (FSC-STD-20-001).

The Motion proposal for auditor rotation in Forest management audits has been incorporated in the revised draft standard, including additional requirements on how to operationalise auditor rotation exemptions for regions with few certificates, in accordance with the intent of the Motion.

The revised standard is scheduled to be submitted for FSC Board approval in October 2015.

FSC will consider this Motion as being closed after a successful standard revision process.

Cost: embedded in the general accreditation standard revision costs

GA2014-P.68

Back to table

Improvement of transparency in the FSC process to create Working Groups and Expert Panels.

Status: not started (scheduled for 2016 / 2017). Will be implemented as part of the governance review (M 42)


This Motion calls for FSC to develop clear and documented procedures for the formation of Steering Committees, Working Groups, Expert Panels and other ad hoc Committees (hereafter referred to as “groups”), importantly including information regarding the selection of group members and their terms of reference as applicable to specific working groups that are formed, in order to improve the transparency of these key components of the FSC system.

Cost: Budget estimate 50 000Euro plus staff time

GA2014-P.71 FSC Financial Transparency and Reporting

Status: In progress




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Implemented through continuous improvement of the quality of FSC financial reporting. Audited reports are published on the FSC website, and the same will happen with budgets for 2016 onwards.

Cost:

GA2014-P.84 Development of an FSC Global Strategy

Status: in progress


Two consultations have been undertaken. Approval of a final strategic plan expected to happen at the BoD meeting in August 2015.

The Enabling Phase of the strategic plan is being implemented alongside the development of the strategy itself. This is expected to be reflected partially already in work plans and budget for FSC International and the FSC Network for 2016 and completely in a final implementation plan expected to be ready in the first half of 2016.

Cost: DO, 1 FTE

GA2014-S.96

Back to table

Reaffirming respect for the civil rights of indigenous peoples, traditional peoples and local communities in the purpose of the Organization.

Status: Closed


Text integrated into the FSC AC Statutes.

Cost:



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S. 1.1 Recognition of Social Issues and the role of Ecosystem Services

Status: Closed

Implementation summary: Text integrated into the new FSC AC Statutes.

Cost: 1,500.00 Euros

P.4 Motion to improve transparency and reliability of the GA outcomes

Status: In progress

Implementation summary: Updates on implementation of approved motions are shared with the FSC AC Board before each Board meeting. Systems to share Board documents with the membership still not fully developed. A membership portal on the FSC website in in development, where updates on motion implementation will be uploaded. Special updates developed for membership events such as the global social chamber meeting in February 2014.

Cost: Staff time to prepare documents

P.8

Back to table

FSC Global Network Financing

Status: Closed


Based on Motion 8 of the FSC General Assembly in Kota Kinabalu and after a year of independent research a representative team of 6 Network Partners, a Certification Body, a Regional Director and 3 Senior management staff, supported by external consultants of PwC and Sustainability, developed a vision on One Global FSC Organization and a better financial base for FSC and the FSC Network. The research was backed-up by 150+ internal FSC documents gathered and analyzed; 38 completed the Questionnaires by Network Partners; interviews with 73 stakeholder organizations, including with 38 Network Partners, 4 Regional Offices, 7 FSC International staff and 21 key clients; comparison with 7 peer group organizations of FSC and a review of 12 product segments and certification trends, and the forest status in 220 countries.

The results were discussed and agreed with the FSC Network:

1. Financial:

a) A revision of the Annual Accreditation Fee increase resulted in an increase of financial support for existing Network Partners with the objective of better service provision to FSC stakeholders. In 2014, around 32% of FSC’s budget is shared with Network Partners, which sums up to approximately 6 million USD.

b) The revenue sharing system changed: in 2014 22% of the national Chain of Custody certificates income and 190% of the national Forest Management certificates income was shared with the existing FSC Network Offices.



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FSC International expects that the Network can anticipate the same level of budget in 2015 as in 2014. This will be accompanied by a system of accountability and performance-based indicators necessary in the development of one global organization to fulfill the FSC mission.

c) New sources of income: FSC is working on a strategy to develop financial alliances and strategic financial diversification of income, in collaboration with the Motion 8 Implementation Team (see further).

2. Local action and relevance:

a) FSC identified new countries where FSC must secure a strong local presence. Investments were done in 3 sub-regional offices in Africa, a sub-regional office in Central America, National Offices in China, Indonesia and collaboration of Network Partners in Scandinavia and Australia/New Zealand.

b) Different ways of partnership are piloted, building on 3 chamber structures where relevant

3. A Motion 8 Implementation Team is established including 6 representatives of the Network, and engaging in the management of strategic decisions in the development of FSC. The formal mandate of this team is to advise the managing director of FSC Global Development (Kim Carstensen). The team is engaged in:

New system of Revenue Sharing, connected to local relevance and performance

Organizational development of FSC and the FSC Network

New sources of income for FSC and the FSC Network, incl. i. Donations strategy ii. Key Account management strategy

Budgets and work plans FSC

Strategic plan development 2015 - 2019

Cost: 465,000 Euro

P.9

Back to table

Inclusion of forest workers in the FSC Global Strategy

Status: In progress

Implementation summary: FSCs new global strategy is in development now, and this is where forest workers can be integrated. In the meantime, the FSC Director General has established regular meetings with the Building and Woodworkers International and did a presentation at the BWI Congress in Bangkok in 2013.

Cost: Limited travel cost to meetings, 3,000 Euros



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P.10

Back to table

Ensuring FSC brand integrity and protection with respect to claims and rewards for the provision of ecosystem services

Status: In progress


The Ecosystem Services Program has completed an identification of risks with respect to claims and rewards for the provision of Ecosystem Services (ES).

The major risks identified include: fake and/or misleading claims; negative impact on other values; greenwashing; unjust benefit sharing; unintended consequences, including social and cultural; increased overall environmental impact from offsetting; increased complexity and costs for certificate holders; and, illegal activity.

Measures to ensure the protection and integrity of the FSC brand have been developed and included within the draft FSC Ecosystem Services Strategy. These measures include:

The draft International Generic Indicators were reviewed and determined to be adequate as a core set of environmental and social safeguards for ES reward projects;

The IGI were finalized including an Ecosystem Services Annex that will apply when FSC promotional claims are made for the provision of ecosystem services. The ES Annex includes a small number of additional management requirements targeted to specific ES and general requirements related to documentation, transparency and the demonstration of impact.

Guidance will be developed for the maintenance and/or enhancement of ecosystem services.

An FSC forest carbon monitoring tool is being finalized will be available for use by certificate holders to assess the impact of forest management activities on forest carbon.

PSU is proposing the creation of the FSC Procedure for Demonstrating the Impact of Forest Stewardship on Ecosystem Services. Impacts demonstrate using the ES Procedure will be the basis of credible FSC promotional claims.

The rules for FSC ES claims will be included in the revised FSC trademark requirements.

In the case of applying FSC certification along with other verification schemes (i.e. dual certification), such as carbon standards:

o Criteria are being finalized for the assessment of external certification schemes; these criteria will be used to assess potential partner schemes and to recommend schemes to FSC certificate holders;

o A list of recommended external schemes will be developed for use by certificate holders.

The FSC Ecosystem Services Strategy upholds the board-approved FSC Strategic Framework for an FSC Climate Change Engagement, which recommends against FSC-certification becoming involved in “carbon offset quantification and verification.”



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Market studies have been completed and FSC is developing new tools for certificate holders to access ES markets (FSC ES promotional claims and FSC ES assets).

The draft FSC Ecosystem Services Strategy was presented to the Policy and Standards Committee for their advice in July 2015 and will be presented to the FSC Board of Directors at their Board Meeting in August 2015. The FSC ES Strategy and associated work is being supported and tested though the GEF-funded ‘ForCES’ Project (Forest Certification of Ecosystem Services), of which FSC is the lead executing agency. All aspects of ES certification including the development of fair benefit sharing mechanisms are being tested.

Cost: 319,207 € in 2015 plus 161,104 € in donor funds including 2.0 FTE for PSU staff

P.16 Recognition of forest carbon by the FSC Principles & Criteria

Status: Closed


The Principles & Criteria Review Working Group considered carbon as an ecosystem function in the definition of "environmental values" (carbon sequestration and storage).

The latest draft of the International Generic Indicators includes requirements to assess environmental values based on Scale, Intensity and Risk (Criterion 6.1), identify potential and future impacts on environmental values (Criterion 6.2), identify and implement effective actions to prevent negative impacts of management activities on the environmental values (Criterion 6.3), and describe changes in environmental values (Principle 8, Annex G). Annex G (HCVF) instructs that standards developers shall consider the following strategies for maintaining High Conservation Values: “……Where identified HCV 4 ecosystem services* include climate regulation, strategies to maintain or enhance carbon sequestration and storage.”

Cost: 5 working days for PSU staff

P.17

Back to table

Exploring the feasibility of carbon storage as a High Conservation Value

Status: In Progress


FSC commissioned a scope of work to assess the feasibility and wider implications of including natural ecosystems with globally, regionally and /or nationally significant amounts of carbon stored in vegetation and soil as a High Conservation Value. The consultancy looked at the feasibility of global definitions and methodologies as well as policy and management implications.



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This report will feed into the process for developing FSC’s management guidance for High Conservation Value Forests (to be published in 2015).

Cost: 15,000 € plus 10 working days for PSU staff

P.18

FSC Certification of Plantations

Status: In progress


The conversion rule ('1994 rule') was the main item which was not solved by the FSC Plantations Review in 2009. FSC made several attempts to re-visit this aspect (e.g. in the P&C review process) but could not come up with a proposal that was agreeable to all stakeholder groups. Following the discussions at the upcoming GA side meeting in Seville on '' Restoration and conversion – a vision for the future'' (organized by Greenpeace, Rainforest Alliance, SSC, TNC, WCS, WWF) FSC will set up a new Task Force / Working Group to work on developing a new proposal.

Motion 12 ‘‘Fast tracking the implementation of Motion 18 from General Assembly (GA) 2011'' was passed in GA Seville 2014. PSU has established a chamber balanced working group to find new solutions for 1994-rule, ownership loophole and subsistence conversion

Cost: 10,000 € plus 10 working days for PSU staff (so far). Addressing Motion 12:2014 will create additional costs

P.19 Establishment of a Permanent Indigenous Peoples' Committee

Status: Closed

Implementation summary: Five regional preparation meetings have been held, where indigenous leaders have come together to nominate their representatives to the Permanent Indigenous Peoples’ Committee. The Committee held its inaugural meeting in Canada in October 2013 and has since met in Oaxaca, Mexico, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The PIPC is now fully functional and will report to the GA in a side meeting.

Cost: 140,000 Euros / year

P.20

Back to table

Landscape Level Impacts of Big Operations

Status: Closed




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FSC commissioned a study on the aspects of this Motion and the Final Report was presented and discussed in a side event at the General Assembly 2014 The results are contributing to the development of the SIR Guideline.

Cost: 35,000 € plus 0.1 FTE PSU staff time

P.21 Operationalizing recommendations of the Plantations Policy Working Group

Status: Closed


The International Generic Indicators (IGIs) process used the recommendations of the Plantations Policy Working Group as an input. The IGIs process has been completed and the Board of Directors has approved the FSC-STD-60-004 V1-0 EN International Generic Indicators.

.

Cost: embedded in the IGI development costs

P.23 Derogation procedures and National Initiatives

Status: Closed


FSC has revised its pesticides derogation procedure (FSC-PRO-30-001) and incorporated a process that enables national offices to process derogation applications for pesticides while keeping the decision making process with FSC International. The normative document was approved by the FSC Board of Directors in March 2015 and will come into effect on 01 September 2015.


P.25

Back to table

Use of interim standards for forest management certification

Status: In progress


FSC is currently revising the certification bodies’ standard FSC-STD-20-002 Structure, content and local adaptation of generic forest stewardship standards to change the rules from using CB interim standards towards using a common

Locally Adapted Standards (LAS) which is based on the IGIs and has gone through a centralized public consultation process with final FSC approval. A first meeting of the Working Group to conduct this revision has already taken place. It is planned to finish this process together with the IGI process in early 2015.



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Cost: 0.3 FTE PSU staff time

P.28

Back to table

Incentives for obtaining and maintaining certification for communities and SLIMF

Status: In progress


A. Capacity development for Smallholders:

Train the Trainers Program:

The program was initiated in Asia Pacific with a training partner, The Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC). To respond to the smallholders’ needs for better understanding of FSC certification and its benefits, FSC puts localized, appropriate training on certification, entrepreneurship, and markets at the heart of this program. The program delivers robust training, knowledge and information to support the certification of smallholders to national FSC representatives, local service providers, forestry practitioners, locally-active NGOs, and resource managers (e.g. of group certificates. Included is the training concept and materials for delivery on regional level for trainers and manuals and guidelines to deliver training content on national and local level in the respective cultural context. In 2012 and 2013 twelve trainers from six countries were trained, nine trainings on national or local level got implemented in 2013, with 141 attendees. Three certificates (forest management and chain of custody) were granted as direct outcomes. By the end of 2014, 10 new trainers will be trained, including for Indonesia.

The program also was launched in Latin America in 2014. The regional partner is the Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Cordillera Volcánica Central (FUNDECOR), based in Costa Rica. FUNDECOR will develop the concept and materials for the next two years, including the layout for the first regional training still for 2014. The MA&D methodology (Market Analysis and Development) by FAO is being tested in parallel. Trainings on national and local level will start in 2015.

In 2015 it will be expanded to Africa, following a needs analysis and profiling of target groups. Existing training modules will be adapted and contextualized.

B. Access to Finance for small forest enterprises:

Smallholder Fund:

It is a strategic priority for FSC to increase the numbers of smallholders in FSC certification and keep them in the system. The Smallholder Fund established from AAF contributions is allocating small grants (5.000 – 50.000 Euros / i1-3 years) to address this. Criteria are related to improving the capacity of smallholders to achieve or to maintain FSC certification, or/and to strengthen their ability to benefit from the FSC system and to increase FSC supply.



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In 2013, 30 projects in all six regions were selected and received grants. FSC has projects signed until 2015/16 with a total amount of 678.000 EUROs. The outlook of the Smallholder Fund is to grow and to incorporate third party funds.

C. Improve market access to smallholders:

Small and community Label Option (SCLO):

FSC developed an initiative that helps small and community producers distinguish themselves and their products through a new label option –The Small and Community Label option (SCLO) and an in-store, print and online marketing campaign (Made-with-Heart Campaign). It is exclusively for use by Small and Community producers, and emphasizes that the FSC product comes from well managed forests of small or community producers, and has established criteria for eligibility. A main objective is to improve market access for products, with specific objectives of improving marketing opportunities, and raising retailer and consumer demand.

Since the launch in January 2014, the SCLO is in use by some producers in Latin America. The ‘Made with Heart’ in-store, print and online marketing campaign supports the marketing to consumers in a retail setting. All materials and assets are housed online on 2 websites. Nine producer portfolios have been documented and the information is available on www.sclo.fsc.org.

Cost: ( all excluding staff time)

Capacity Development: Train the Trainers Program: 160.000 euros (2011 – 2014)

Access to Finance: Smallholder Fund (2013-2015): 678 000 euros

Market Access: SCLO development and maintenance: 2013/ 2014: 45 500 euros

P.29

Back to table

New criterion for the eligibility of SLIMF in FSC-POL-20-100

Status: In progress


The proposal to include a new criterion for the eligibility of SLIMF in FSC-POL-20-100 is being considered as part of the ongoing development of the SIR concept in the International Generic Indicators process.

Cost: embedded in the IGI development costs



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P.34 Focus on field performance in the FSC system

Status: Closed (but the focus on field performance is continuously followed as an ongoing guiding principle)


The focus on field performance is one of the key assets of FSC that is re-strengthened in different segments of the FSC system.

With the establishment of the Quality Assurance Unit, the FSC Secretariat has strengthened and established a number of programs and initiatives to increase the performance on the ground, both at forest and product level. The Monitoring & Evaluation program will collect information to testify whether FSC achieves its intended impacts with a focus on social and environmental outcomes. ASI performance is going to be checked through systematic reporting against an agreed set of key performance indicators. The Dispute Resolution System is continuously improved and the program’s readiness and responsiveness has been markedly increased. A Training Program has been established with one of the key objectives being to introduce an auditor training framework. And the new Supply Chain Integrity program aims at eliminating gross failures with respect to product integrity and false FSC claims through the Online Claims Platform and a Fiber Testing initiative.

ASI has introduced a risk-based sampling system to identify scenarios where field performance issues are more likely to occur. The system is under review in order to incorporate a more sophisticated rubric scoring methodology which is not based on the number of clients managed by certification bodies but instead focuses on a number of performance aspects. ASI has further introduced and operates an increasing amount of their assessments as so-called ‘compliance assessments ‘. In a compliance assessment ASI assessors take the role of a CB auditor and verify compliance of the certificate holder with a set of selected certification requirements. From the findings, ASI deducts relevant non-conformities at the certification body level and highlights shortcomings identified with respect to certificate holder performance.

Field performance aspects have also been considered in the development of the International Generic Indicators and relevant guidance for national Standard Development Groups.

Cost: FSC program costs (excluding OCP) : ~500,000 EUR

P.36

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Annual Policy Manual for the FSC System, for use by CBs, NIs, ASI auditors, …

Status: Closed


FSC established a Working Group on Motion 2008:35 to develop procedures for the development, revision and interpretation of normative documents (policies, standards, procedures). This Working Group also took up the task to



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incorporate the requirements from this Motion into the procedure. An up-to-date document revision plan (schedule) is available for everybody on the FSC website.


P.38 Certified reclaimed paper material by FSC-STD-40-004

Status: Closed


FSC commissioned a study on the aspects of this Motion and presented the results to the FSC Board of Directors for decision making in July 2014. In that meeting, the FSC Board approved to grant pre-consumer paper fibre the same value as post-consumer material and as certified virgin fiber. This decision has been incorporated in the Chain of Custody standard (FSC-STD-40-004) which is currently under revision.


P.42

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Compliance with legality legislations

Status: Closed


PSU revised its standards to ensure harmonization with relevant timber legality legislation.

Chain of Custody

Four Chain of Custody Advice Notes were published as part of the FSC Directive on Chain of Custody certification between February 2013 and August 2014. The Advice notes covered the phase-out of minor components (ADVICE-40-004-09), access to information related to timber legality legislation (ADVICE-40-004-10), trade and customs laws (ADVICE-40-004-11) and pre-consumer reclaimed wood compliance with the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) (ADVICE-40-004-12).

FSC Controlled Wood

Two Advice Notes (ADVICE-40-005-19 and ADVICE-30-010-01) were published to introduce the applicable legislation in controlled wood requirements, to address the need to consider applicable legislation in the risk assessment process, and to extend the scope of applicable legislation to include laws related to due diligence/due care requirements.

Forest Management



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The International Generic Indicators developed for the new Principles & Criteria Version 5 have been drafted to consideration the scope of applicable legislation as required in the relevant timber legality legislation. In addition, one Advice Note (ADVICE-20-007-17) was published to introduce the concept of applicable legislation into the forest management framework and to extend the scope of applicable legislation to include laws related to due diligence/due care requirements.

Cost: 1,500 € plus 0.1 FTE PSU/ DO staff time

P.43 Policy to avoid misleading claims for FSC Mix products

Status: in progress


This Motion was originally intended to be implemented as part of the revision process of the FSC Chain of Custody standard (FSC-STD-40-004) and a draft proposal was consulted with stakeholders during the first public stakeholder consultation from December 2014 to February 2015. Based on the results of the stakeholder consultation the Working Group guiding the COC revision process recommended this Motion to be addressed as part of the Trademark revision process, arguing that the underlying issues relate to communication about the FSC Mix label, not the COC requirements themselves.

The Trademark standard revision process (FSC-STD-50-001) was initiated in early 2015 and considers this Motion as part of the ongoing revision process.

Cost: embedded in the COC and Trademark standard revision costs

P.44

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Improving access for small enterprises to Chain of Custody certification through standards and support services

Status: in progress


Part of this Motion is addressed through the ongoing revision process of the FSC Chain of Custody standard (FSC-STD-40-004). The Working Group is looking into alternatives to simplify certification for small Chain of Custody businesses. In addition, tools and templates for small COC operations will be developed once the revision process of the Chain of Custody standard is finished.

Cost: embedded in the COC standard revision costs



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P.45 Development of enhanced interaction between FSC and retailers

Status: In progress

Implementation summary: The motion called for FSC to identify how to improve collaboration with retail by looking at barriers and opportunities, including the COC procedures. It emphasized the importance for retailers to be able to implement COC requirements in an effective and efficient manner as customers may need to be able to make according claims about FSC certified products. As a consequence, FSC initiated the revision of the COC and multi-site standard to take into account the needs of retailers. This process is ongoing. The organization proposing the Motion was consulted for further feedback on how to best implement the Motion. The results of this consultation were incorporated in the revision process of the standard for Chain of Custody certification of multiple sites (FSC-STD-40-003) and the revision of the FSC Accreditation Standard for Chain of Custody Evaluations (FSC-STD-20-011). The revised standards were approved by the FSC Board in July and became effective on 01 January 2015.

This Motion is also partially addressed as part of the ongoing revision process of the FSC Chain of Custody standard, FSC-STD-40-004. The revision process is guided by a Working Group containing both chamber-balanced and technical experts. The Working Group advised that FSC should not develop separate Chain of Custody standards for different retailers, but keeping a single core Chain of Custody standard.

In parallel, FSC undertook a number of activities to better understand barriers for retailers and opportunities to enhance collaboration, mainly through meeting with key retailers and network partners. These have been analysed and summarized in order to continue to contribute and create awareness about the importance of the retail sector for FSC. While it is an ongoing process to take into account retailer’s specific needs, FSC will consider this Motion as being closed after a successful standard revision process.

Cost: 0.15 FTE and 1000 euros for meetings and travel

P.46

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Clarify intent of Credit System and revise as necessary

Status: in progress


This Motion is implemented as part of the ongoing revision process of the FSC Chain of Custody standard (FSC-STD-40-004). The first draft standard included options for stakeholder consultation on how to operate the credit system in future, based on this Motion and the Working Group recommendations. Currently the second draft standard is created considering the results of the first public consultation. The second public consultation is scheduled for 01 September - 31 October 2015.

Cost: embedded in the COC standard revision costs



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P.47

Monitoring the increasing of FSC material throughout the COC

Status: in progress


Originally, it was anticipated that the Online Claims Platform would be able to deliver on this information, and for this reason other initiatives to gather relevant information were held back. However, given the reluctance from certificate holders to share information on their supply chains with FSC, we have had to look for other ways to begin implementing the motion. Therefore, the Business Development Unit, Policy & Standards Unit and the Quality Assurance Unit have worked together on a set of questions relevant to the motion, which have been included in the Global CH survey that has just been conducted. Information is now available and ready for analysis, which will be carried out and shared with the membership before the end of 2014.

Cost: 12 working days for Policy & Standards Unit and Business Development Unit staff

P.51

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Strengthening the Controlled Wood System

Status: In progress

The motion originally included 3 elements:

1. The development of National Risk Assessments (NRAs) and the phase-out of company-developed risk assessments;

2. A quality check of existing Company Risk Assessments; and 3. Strengthening Annex 3 (field verification) for all cases of unspecified risk in the FSC National Risk Assessments.

In late 2011, shortly after the GA, FSC established the Controlled Wood Technical Committee (CWTC) to deal with all aspects of this Motion.

Re #1: the CWTC decided to revise and strengthen NRA requirements. The target effective date for the new NRA requirements as of 01 January 2015 was met and 3 normative documents regulating NRA development were approved in November 2014. To speed up the assessment of unassessed areas, FSC International has started the Centralized National Risk Assessment (CNRA). In this exercise, FSC is coordinating risk assessments in selected priority countries, conducted by a group of contracted experts. In 2014, 20 priority countries were assessed for legality (CW Category 1), traditional and human rights (CW Category 2) and GMO use (CW Category 5). Risk assessments of more countries for these categories, as well as risk assessments for High Conservation Values (CW Category 3) and conversion (CW Category 4), which require more time, are being conducted (2015-2017). Additional countries will be included in the CNRA as funds become available.

The current phase-out date for Company Risk Assessment is 31 December 2015.



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Re #2: ASI was contracted in 2012 to conduct an analysis of Company Risk Assessments. All detected mistakes and inconsistencies were addressed and corrected during the following years. This task is considered closed.

Re #3: the CWTC concluded that in order to strengthen the CW system, all normative documents related to CW required improvements (2 CW standards, 2 accreditation standards, and the NRA development procedure and its addenda), not just Annex 3. As the revision of the full set of CW documents is quite labor intensive and complex, this process is still ongoing. The target completion date of this revision is the end of 2015, however due to polarized views on the level of strength of the revised CW system by different group of stakeholders (including the CWTC), consensus on the standards may not eventually be achieved. Additionally, the revised CW-CoC standard (FSC-STD-40-005) is undergoing additional field tests, which make it impossible to make a finalized standard effective prior to the phase-out date. For these reasons, additional, interim solutions, to be used before the revised standard is effective, are being discussed. This solution will be presented to the FSC Board in August 2015 for decision.

Cost: for the period 2012-mid 2015: 900,000 € plus 1.7 FTE PSU staff time

P.53

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Motion to promote FSC certified products and local markets through public procurement

Status: In progress

Implementation summary: Work has progressed on three fronts:

Network Partners: At least 14 FSC Network partners, primarily in Europe and North America, are active in public procurement work, These offices have influenced national policies, several of them with significant results, and have produced nationally relevant market materials

In Latin America, the Regional Director has developed activities on public procurement as part of the wider market development work, and funds have been allocated to this work through strategic investment from FSC International.

Globally, a Public Procurement Strategy has been developed as part of the Advocacy work under the Director’s Office, a cluster of responsible staff working on Public Procurement has been set up, and a work plan for 2014 is currently being implemented. The work plan includes engagement with external policy makers such as the Sustainable Public Procurement Initiative led by UNEP, and Ecoprocura and the Procurement Forum of ICLEI. It also involves regional advocacy work, including successful work to influence the EU Directives on Public Procurement. This work is linked to the work of Network Partners and the initiatives in Latin America, who have been involved in a survey to set priorities for the work. Support is offered to offices that need it.

Cost: Considerable staff time among Network Partners, approximately 1 Full-Time Equivalent in FSC International.



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P.54

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Motion to Actively Promote Certified Wood Products Over Competing Products.

Status: Closed


An online tool has been developed to promote FSC certified wood and paper over competing products and materials: http://benefitsforbusiness.fsc.org/

The tool summarizes arguments, best practices, case studies, fun facts, infographics and examples of impacts in favour of FSC. It contains the following content:

1. Top 5 reasons for using FSC certified wood

2. Top 5 Reasons for seeking FSC certification

3. The FSC Approach: Social, environmental & economic benefits, including two case studies on forest management / timber production from the tropics and from temperate forests

4. Sector benefits: Advantages of using FSC products in different industries, including facts & figures, infographics and company best practice examples

a. Construction and Green Building b. Retail c. Packaging d. Paper and Publishing

Functionality:

Users can download the full report (60 pages)

Users can build personalized documents (PDF files) to promote FSC only including relevant content

Users can view parts of the content on the website

The final English version has been released in March 2014 and promoted since then. Until mid-August there have been 4454 page views and 1614 user sessions with an average session duration of 2:44 minutes. The content is regularly used in communications of FSC and its Network, such as in presentations, publications, articles or for events to promote FSC. A Spanish, French and simplified Chinese version will be online soon. Further languages can be included depending on capacity and needs of FSC Network Partners.

http://benefitsforbusiness.fsc.org/



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Cost: Approx. € 40.000, plus working hours of approx. 0.2 FTE



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2008:06 Effectiveness and coordination of the FSC network

Status: In progress

Implementation summary: Membership Service Agreements setting up national management of membership have been signed with 23 Network Partners. FSC AC manages the global, centralized membership database. Supporter Program is finalized and implementation has started with a soft launch of the program to test it.

Costs: Considerable staff time of Network Partners and FSC’s legal team for membership service agreements. Limited investment in the Supporters’ Program.

2008:28 Strategy for increasing certification in the tropics

Status: In progress

Implementation Summary: Strategy is anticipated to form part of the Global Strategic plan which is being developed. FSC capacity has been developed in tropical countries, including three sub-regional presences for the Congo Basin, East Africa and Southern Africa, and Network Partners in Indonesia and Malaysia. Strategic investment funding from FSC international have gone into these presences and into other activities for tropical certification in Central America, South America and South Asia.

Through the Smallholder Fund, smallholder projects have been supported in all tropical regions, and field testing of the IGIs has included tests of their relevance for indigenous and local communities in Latin America.

Costs: Over 500,000 Euros per year, partly from external donors.

2008:38

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Single format for public summaries of FM certification

Status: In progress


PSU, QAU and IT are working together to develop a single reporting template for all forest management reports. The format is intended to be used electronically and to be integrated into the FSC certificate holder database in order to allow for subsequent cross-certificate data analysis. A prototype version is planned to be developed for pilot testing of the Modular Approach Program later in 2014.

Data from such database-integrated reports are also supposed to be evaluated by the FSC Monitoring & Evaluation program for the purpose of regular impact reporting. Relevant provisions for reporting on impact indicators will therefore be included in such a new reporting approach.



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Finally, the new reporting shall provide for identified non-compliances at certificate holder level to be categorized according to relevant certification requirements (criterion level). This will allow ASI to determine non-compliances hot spots at auditor, certification body or system level and to orient their assessment focus accordingly.

Cost: 100,000 € plus 0.2 FTE QAU and IT staff time (planned)

2008:44

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FSC certification of conservation and protection areas

Status: In Progress


FSC joined with IUCN, which will be launching a new Green List of Protected Areas this year, to conduct some collaborative analyses on the viability of protected areas certification:

1. Competition analysis. RESULT: there is no existing globally applicable certification system for protected areas.

2. Survey of FSC protected areas. RESULT: FSC-certification of protected areas is viable but standards require adaptation and costs need to be reduced. Most FSC-certified protected areas include timber extraction.

3. Global market survey of experts and stakeholders. RESULT: There is interest in both FSC and IUCN certification of protected areas; Strongest support for some collaboration between the two systems.

4. Benchmarking of FSC IGIs draft 2 against draft IUCN Green List of Protected Areas. RESULT: FSC standards could be fairly easily adapted to protected areas certification.

All these analyses will be made available at the 2014 GA.

FSC and IUCN have identified potential possibilities for collaboration on certification of forested protected areas, including:

1. Alignment of FSC and GLPA standards at national level

2. FSC ecosystem services as voluntary add-on to GLPA certification

3. Use of FSC PA certification in IUCN protected areas categories V and VI (or anywhere with timber extraction)

Further discussion is required with IUCN to develop collaboration opportunities.



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Strategic discussion is now required within FSC to decide whether FSC will proceed to develop generic standards, protocols, procedures and guidance to support and encourage the certification of forest conservation and forest protected areas.


Documents

FSC International€¦ · Ensuring FSC brand integrity and protection with respect to ... Assembly Motions and vision of the Global Strategic Plan 2015-2020, ... it will be of high