Aligning with emerging regulations

Companies around the world trust FSC to provide assurance that their forest-based products support responsible forestry. This is because FSC puts the forests first, with our sustainable forest management standards as the core of our system. They enhance biodiversity, ensure fair wages, protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and tackle pressing challenges like deforestation, degradation, and the climate and biodiversity crises.Ā FSC sets the international standard for responsible forestry, and is constantly working to keep the certification system relevant and robust to support compliance with emerging regulation.

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FSC Aligned Certification for EUDR

The FSC Regulatory Module and FSC Risk Assessment Framework comprise FSC Aligned Certification for EUDR, along with system-wide updates to strengthen FSCā€™s commitment to sustainable forestry. Ā These requirements ensure that our certification system remains robust and relevant in the evolving regulatory landscape. The Regulatory Module is relevant for companies that are in the scope of EUDR and companies that would like to support their current or future clients importing to European Union.

Aligned infographic

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FSC Regulatory Module

FSCā€™s Regulatory Module supports FSC certificate holders in aligning their practices with Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 (EUDR) requirements and takes the guesswork out of compliance. The FSC Regulatory Module is a complementary standard to add on to existing FSC certification requirements for forest management, chain of custody, project certification, controlled wood and accreditation.

Due Diligence Requirements

The objective of due diligence for products in the FSC Regulatory Module is to demonstrate that the following conditions are met:

  • Forest products are deforestation-free;
  • they have been produced in accordance with the relevant legislation of the country of production;
  • Forest products are covered by a due diligence statement.

Core elements of the additional due diligence requirements introduced in the module include:

  • Information collection
  • Risk assessment
  • Risk mitigation

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Managing risk with FSCā€™s Risk Assessment Framework

The FSC Regulatory Module requires that risk assessment and mitigation is conducted with the FSC Risk Assessment Framework. Forest management users of the FSC Regulatory ModuleĀ can use FSCā€™s Simplified Risk Assessment Template. The Simplified Risk Assessment Template is also available for companies sourcing solely from FSC-certified forests; assuring that the additional work required to demonstrate due diligence is drastically less.

Users of the Regulatory Module not sourcing from FSC-certified forest must use the full FSC Risk Assessment template. Learn more about how to use an FSC Risk Assessment to conform with the Regulatory Module here.

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Relevant claims

Organizations adopting the FSC Regulatory Module can make use of a Regulatory claim on sales documents for certified products signifying adherence to rigorous standards. When the whole supply chain is certified with the FSC Regulatory Module, certificate holders can make deforestation-free promotional statements. Learn more.

Get started with the FSC Regulatory Module

Contact your certification body and request adding the FSC Regulatory Module to your
certification scope.Ā 

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Regulatory Module resources

Explore the documents below to support understanding and implementation of FSC's Regulatory Module.Ā 

RegModule_Terms_Interpretations.pdf
PDF, Size: 539.43KB

Regulatory Module Terms and Interpretations

In this document find all of the interpretations related to aligning the terminology between FSC and the EUDR.Ā 

FSC-PRO-60-006b V1-0 Simplified Risk Assessment Template
XLSM, Size: 85.29KB

Simplified Risk Assessment Template

Forest managers or for those sourcing only from FSC-certified forests can make use of FSC's Simplified Risk Assessment Template.Ā