Getting started with FSC Trace

FSC Trace is available for all FSC Licence Holders through FSC Connect. To ensure you have access to FSC Trace, you can check if you fulfill the following requirements:

1. Your organization has a designated Primary Contact: it is your Certification Body who confirms the details of the Primary Contact. If you haven’t done so, please contact them to provide the name and contact details of the person who will be the focal point for your FSC certificate or licence. This is crucial for FSC to be able to create a login identity for FSC Connect and FSC Trace such that access to these systems can be granted.
2. The Electronic Trademark Licence Agreement (eTLA) with FSC has been initiated: Your Certification Body will initiate the process. You do not need to wait until the eTLA has been signed to start using FSC Trace, you can already access it as soon as the account on FSC Connect is set up. Check our guide on how to initiate and sign the eTLA for more information.

To access FSC Trace, you need an active account on FSC Connect, as you will need it to log in. If you don’t have an FSC Connect account, reach out to the Primary Contact in your organization to ask them to set you up with an account and grant you permission to use FSC Trace. Check our detailed guide on how to access FSC Trace for more information.

As of December 2025, FSC Trace is available to all Certificate Holders who have a valid Electronic Trademark Licence Agreement (eTLA) or have initiated the signature process.

Promotional Licence Holders will have access to FSC Trace in 2026.

Check our detailed guide on how to access FSC Trace for more information.

Only the Primary Contact in your organization can add users. This is done via the Contact Management tool in FSC Connect, which you can find on the app menu after logging in. Here the Primary Contact can add, edit or delete users and give them access to FSC Trace. Check our detailed guide on how to add users to FSC Trace for more information.

Your Certification Body designates the Primary Contact for your organization; please reach out to them to find out who this person is. They are also the only ones who can change your Primary Contact, hence you need to notify them of any updates or changes.

To assist users with the onboarding process and daily use of FSC Trace, we will provide a library of support materials. These materials will include step-by-step video tutorials and written guides.

To cater to our global user base, we will develop support resources in English, Spanish, French and Simplified Chinese.

These resources will be available directly on FSC Connect and on our YouTube channel. For users based in China, these materials will also be available on FSC Chinese social media and FSC China’s website.

Currently we have 3 tutorial videos available in all languages on our dedicated YouTube playlist and a couple of written guides. More feature-specific videos are under development and will be added gradually to our FSC Trace walkthrough series as they become available.

This blend of resources and live support is part of our commitment to making the transition to and usage of FSC Trace as smooth and efficient as possible for all our users.

Trading parties must agree on key information for a transaction to be written to the blockchain, following these matching rules:

• Who your trading partners are (down to FSC licence code)
• Invoice date - must match exactly
• Product category - must match exactly
• Species composition - must match exactly
• Quantity (total volume or weight) - can differ slightly (up to ±5%)

Once one of the trading partners has uploaded a transaction to FSC Trace, all the details will be visible to their counterparty, with the exception of the quantity details. For a transaction to be matched and written to the blockchain the counterparty (the user who didn’t record the transaction) must enter the quantity to ‘match’ and accept the transaction. The quantity entered must fall within an error margin of ±5% of the figure entered by the first user. If the difference exceeds 5%, the system will not match the transaction.

Note that it is not necessary to match transactions one by one. You can use the bulk upload: if the data you upload corresponds to what was already provided by your counterparty, the transaction will be matched automatically, and written to FSC Trace, without creating duplicated transactions.

Since data on a blockchain is immutable, submitted data cannot be deleted. However, mistakes will inevitably be made when entering data, so it is possible to record corrections to data that has already been entered on FSC Trace.

Similar to how edits are captured in accounting systems, FSC Trace will record the updated information as a new entry which is marked as a correction to the original one. If the edit is done to a matched transaction, the change will have to be agreed by your trading partner, and the supply chain status will change from “Active” to “Unmatched” with this visible to all downstream trading partners.

There are several methods for uploading data:

Direct Entry: Individual products, transactions and trading partners can be recorded manually through FSC Trace. This method is most appropriate for small companies with only occasional trades, and when first learning how FSC Trace works.

Bulk Uploads: Companies can opt for bulk uploads of spreadsheets, which can cover a maximum of 1000 entries per file. This method is efficient for managing large volumes of data. The spreadsheet templates are available for download directly from FSC Trace.

A key aspect of FSC Trace is its capability to automatically handle various elements of the FSC certification process. This includes managing your product inventory and the invoices of your transactions, for both sales and purchases.

It will also maintain a list of trading partners and verify their ongoing certification for every transaction. By automating these tasks, FSC Trace will relieve licence holders from the need to manage these lists externally, significantly reducing their administrative burden.

Yes, you can invite FSC-certified trading partners to join your supply chain, record, and match transactions you have with them.

Yes, you have the flexibility to decide how extensively you use FSC Trace to manage your products.

It's possible to use FSC Trace for only a selection of your products. This selective usage allows you to tailor the blockchain's benefits to your specific needs, whether for certain product lines, markets, or compliance requirements.

However, it's important to note that if FSC Trace is not used for all products, the generated volume summaries may not encompass your entire operation, which could impact the comprehensiveness of data available for FSC audits.

FSC Controlled Wood, which are forest-based products verified as low risk and permissible in limited volumes within the FSC system, is supported by FSC Trace.

In FSC Trace there is a dedicated but optional field for the forest manager to upload this data.

As with all data uploaded to FSC Trace, this geolocation data can be shared with downstream users, but only if the data owner – the forest manager, in this case – chooses to do so.

In the initial stages of FSC Trace's deployment, there is no automatic validation for the correctness of the recorded harvest locations.

FSC Trace is designed with flexibility in mind, accommodating various production processes, including those not managed in batches.

In such scenarios users will be able to use different criteria, e.g. date ranges or first-in-first-out rules, to select the inputs which could have contributed to a set of outputs. This approach aligns with regulatory requirements, such as under EUDR, in which you can specify a super-set of known supply sources from which the actual specific sources are not known for a given product, but where it is known that it contains no forest product contents from sources outside that super-set.

It is important to note that currently FSC Trace offers basic functionality. This feature will continue to be improved and enhanced to cater to additional workflows, scenarios, and market changes.

Currently the system does not support recycled materials.

FSC Trace can handle the complexity of products composed of multiple species, a common scenario in the forest products industry. When configuring a product in FSC Trace, users can select multiple species that are used in their products.

No, the current version of FSC Trace does not support the grouping of multiple locations into a single entry. Forest managers are required to upload geolocation data for harvest sites individually using GeoJSON files.

In FSC Trace, the journey of a product is segmented into three distinct phases: incoming volume, production process, and sales.

When recording production processes, the input products contributing to a specific batch of outputs are recorded. The data attached to these inputs, including the original geolocations and harvesting times, will be associated with the output products. This will maintain traceability back to the point(s) of origin.

FSC Trace is designed to accommodate the complexities of real-world transactions, including invoices that feature multiple products. The system recognizes the diversity of products that are included in a single transaction and treats each line on an invoice as a separate transaction item. This ensures detailed traceability and verification for each product, regardless of how they are grouped in financial documents.

Here's how it works:

Individual Line Entries: Each line on an invoice is entered as a separate line item. This can be done through batch uploads using spreadsheets, where each line represents a different product, or through individual entries on FSC Trace.

Flexibility in Product Management: By treating each product line as a separate claim, FSC Trace allows for greater flexibility in managing and tracking products. Products from different invoices or suppliers can be combined or traced individually in the following stages of production or sales.

Enhanced Traceability: This method prevents the aggregation of product data into a single, indistinguishable batch. Instead, it maintains the distinct identity of each product, facilitating precise traceability across your own company and into that of your customers.

FSC Trace tackles four major challenges in supply chain management.

Companies face growing sustainability demands and rising risks in complex supply chains. FSC Trace strengthens their credentials and enables proactive risk management.

Demonstrating compliance is time-consuming. FSC facilitates data sharing during audits and proving supply chain integrity to regulators and customers.

Data sharing can be fragmented and insecure; FSC Trace ensures tamper-proof, controlled information exchange while maintaining transparency with business partners. Finally, manual certification checks slow operations. FSC Trace automates verification and integrates into existing workflows, improving efficiency without compromising trust.

No. FSC Trace provides traceability for all forest-based products that FSC certifies, including timber, paper and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) like rubber or bamboo.

As of December 2025, FSC can be used by FSC licence holders who have an FSC certificate. Access to promotional licence holders will be available in 2026.

FSC Trace is designed exclusively for trading products with FSC claims. It cannot be used for non-certified products at this time. (It can be used for FSC Controlled Wood. See below.)

FSC Trace will be interoperable with other systems through a RESTful API interface which will be available through a self-service developer platform.

FSC is committed to using industry-standard data frameworks wherever possible. The Blockchain data formats and API will follow the standards set out in the ISEAL Core Metadata Standard, developed in collaboration with the ISEAL Alliance of sustainability labelling schemes.

Use of FSC Trace is intended to make chain of custody auditing easier for both certificate holders and auditors. Records kept in FSC Trace will in the future be able to replace the current paper trail used by certification bodies during the audit process. Documents relevant to any point in the supply chain, such as harvest permits, can be digitally attached to transactions recorded in FSC Trace. Certificate holders will be able to share data via a one-time shareable link with auditors and other non-FSC certificate holders.

No, FSC Trace itself does not directly validate or request copies of invoices. Instead, it operates on a consensus mechanism where both trading partners must agree on the details of a transaction — product type, volume, species, and invoice number — before a claim is verified. This agreement process acts as an indirect validation of the invoice details, ensuring consistency and accuracy in the data recorded on the blockchain.

Currently, joining the platform is entirely voluntary, offering licence holders the flexibility to integrate FSC Trace into their operations.

However, as part of the Eurasia Workplan, FSC has committed to making FSC Trace mandatory in certain high-risk supply chains. In addition, FSC’s membership - core to its governance model - voted at the latest General Assembly to approve Motion 30. This motion calls for FSC to lay the groundwork for developing and implementing a universal digital information and volume control system. The work includes assessing the impacts and needs of FSC-participating organizations and creating a roadmap toward potential universal system adoption by 2030. The results will provide a strong basis for a decision by the membership on whether to mandate universal use and confirm the final implementation plan.

FSC Trace offers the most value when the end-to-end supply chain is actively trading on the platform. However, while you are working to get your supply chain (vendors and customers) on FSC Trace there is value in uploading your product details, exploring the functionality, populating the document library feature and more. These preliminary steps will ensure you are ready to comply with future supplier requests for Due Diligence documents that can then be associated with specific trades.

FSC Promotional Licence Holders (PLHs), who trade with FSC-certified finished and labelled goods without altering them, will be able to use FSC Trace when it is rolled out for all user groups in 2026.

Onboarding to FSC Trace is a self-guided process for Certificate Holders, requiring minimal intervention from FSC or certification bodies.

If a Primary Contact is registered for an organization there is no action required from the Certification Body. The Organisations Primary Contact will be able to access their Organisation’s Trace account using their existing FSC Connect account.

If a Certificate Holder is invited by a trading partner to join FSC Trace and does not have a nominated Primary Contact, their Certification Body will receive an email from FSC Trace requesting them to act by recording the Primary Contact in Salesforce. This step is crucial for FSC to ensure their identity before a login can be created. Once completed, FSC Trace will automatically invite the Primary Contact user to the platform.

Lastly, in case the Certificate Holder does not have an Electronic Trademark Licence Agreement (eTLA), the Certification Body will need to initiate the signature process.

The platform is free for FSC Certificate Holders. Access to the basic functionality is included within the existing fees paid by FSC licence holders. We may add paid premium features in the future.

FSC Trace users can view their direct trading partners, customers and suppliers, similar to the current FSC system.

Although visibility into the entire supply chain is limited, the blockchain allows data to flow further downstream between trading partners. Data owners decide who can access their information, by sharing and restricting access to individual data sets and for specific users. This supports stronger traceability and integrity while maintaining confidentiality.

FSC Trace is designed to support and enhance the transparency and integrity of FSC-certified products within the certified supply chain. Currently, FSC Trace is exclusively available to FSC licence holders. Companies who are not FSC licence holders cannot use FSC Trace to receive claims and data, and would be dependent on certified suppliers to download and share specific data with them manually on a case-by-case basis.