FSC™ CoC GP01

Description of FSC CoC certification process

This document is for the purpose to specify relations and mutual obligations between Bureau Veritas
Certification and its Client in respect of FSC certification. The following requirements apply to FSC
certificate issuance regarding forest management, wood logging, processing, trading or supplying
activities conducted by the Client. In case that the Client violates any term provided herein, the
Certificate (as defined below) and the certification trademark use right will be suspended or
withdrawn by Bureau Veritas Certification.
Bureau Veritas Certification does not practice any form of discrimination such as hidden discrimination
by speeding up or delaying the processing of applications. Bureau Veritas Certification ensure that
the certification process is not conditional upon the size of the client or membership of any association
or group, nor conditional upon the number of certifications already issued, undue financial or other
conditions.
Bureau Veritas Certification reserves the right not to grant or to withdraw the Certificate to a Client
when fundamental/ demonstrated reasons exist, such as illegal activities, history of repeated non
conformities with the certification requirements and similar issues, even without FSC official inquiry.

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Table of contents

1 Mutual obligations 4
1.1 Bureau Veritas Certification obligations towards the Client 4
1.2 Client obligations towards the Client 4
2 General presentation of the FSC Certification system 6
2.1 Presentation of the Forest Stewardship Council 6
2.2 FSC COC system requirements 6
3 Certification Proposition 7
3.1 Certification process description 7
3.2 Useful definition 7
4 Certification application 7
4.1 Documentation list for application 7
4.1.1 For a single site application 7
4.1.2 For a group or multisite certification scheme 7
4.2 Request and Offer of service preliminary examination 8
4.2.1 Quotation preparation 8
4.2.2 Particular cases 8
4.3 Contract 9
5 Audit preparation 9
5.1 Bureau Veritas Certification FSC CoC Auditor qualification 9
5.2 Audit team composition 10
6 Pre-Audit 10
6.1 Pre-audit interest and realization 10
6.2 Opportunity for Improvement 10
7 Main Audit 10
7.1 Certification Audit Plan 10
7.2 Main audit realization 11
7.2.1 Opening meeting 11
7.2.2 Audit course 11
7.2.3 Closing meeting 11
7.3 Nonconformities and Corrective Actions 12
7.3.1 Nonconformities 12
7.3.2 Corrective Actions timeframes and upgrading 12
8 Certification 13
8.1 Certification Decision 13
8.2 Certificate Issuance 13
9 Specific process: Evaluation of FSC Controlled Wood according to FSC-STD-40-005 14

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9.1 Off-site evaluation 14

9.2 On-site evaluation 14
10 Certification process synthesis 15
11 Certification Maintenance 16
11.1 Surveillance Audits 16
11.2 Re-certification Audit 16
11.3 Certificate Scope modification 16
11.4 Special audits 16
12 Trademark use management system 17
13 Certification Costs 17
14 Certificate: Suspension/Withdrawal, Scope modification 18
15 Complaints and Appeals process 18
15.1 Complaints 18
15.2 Appeals: 19
16 Applicable Standards 19
16.1 FSC-STD-40-004 19
16.2 FSC-STD-40-005 19
16.3 FSC-STD-40-003 20
16.4 FSC-STD-40-007 21
17 Confidentiality 21
18 Observer's participation to audit 21
19 Management of change 22

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1 Mutual obligations
1.1 Bureau Veritas Certification obligations towards the Client
Bureau Veritas Certification undertakes to:
- Provide to the Client the necessary information, all applicable standards and normative FSC
documents regarding the FSC certification system;
- Provide the Client with the contact details as well as the name of the contact person regarding the
certification;
- Organise and conduct audits as specified through the certification contract;
- Require appointed auditors to precede the audits under a confidentiality commitment in regard to the
Client’s operations and the audits results;
- Communicate the full audit reports only to the Certification Decision Making Entity, to ASI and FSC;
- Not communicate the certificate number to the Client before a positive certification decision has
been taken;
- Make public the documentation required by the FSC (e.g. FSC FM Public Summary) to be in
accordance with the related standards;
- Inform the relevant Clients within 30 days (starting from the changes had been approved by the
approval body) about the change of the FSC requirements or of the certification system to allow the Client
to conform to this change within 12 months of receiving notification, Bureau Veritas Certification reserves
the rights to revise the relevant requirements of certification within the period of validity of the certificate;
- Inform the relevant Clients within 30 days about the change of the FSC accreditation scope of
Bureau Veritas Certification, and the Client have to seek a new FSC-accredited certification body within six
(6) months to keep their certificate valid;
- Inform the client when Bureau Veritas Certification release confidential information required by law
or by contractual arrangements, unless prohibited by law.

1.2 Client obligations towards the Client

The Client undertakes to:
- Conform with all applicable certification requirements;
- Conform with any conditions set by Bureau Veritas for granting or maintaining certification;
- Disclose current or previous application or certification with FSC and/or other forestry certification
schemes in the last five years;
- Agree to the conduct of evaluations at the required intervals, including Bureau Veritas’s right to carry
out unannounced or short notice audits;
- Agree to witness audits of ASI;
- Agree, that specified information is published, as indicated in the applicable FSC normative
documents;
- Consider the participation of observers as specified in FSC-PRO-01-017;
- Agree, that a complaint is first handled according to Bureau Veritas’s dispute resolution procedure
and if not resolved referred to ASI and ultimately to FSC, in case of disagreement with audit findings
related to FSC normative documents;
- Making claims regarding certification consistent with the scope of certification and not making any
claims of conformity (or near conformity) with FSC certification requirements until and unless certification is
granted;
- Not use its certification in such a manner as to bring Bureau Veritas, FSC or ASI into disrepute and
not make any statement regarding its certification that may be considered misleading or unauthorized;
- Keep a record of all complaints made known to it relating to conformity with certification
requirements and make these records available to Bureau Veritas when requested, and:

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o Take appropriate action with respect to such complaints and any deficiencies found in
products that affect conformity with FSC certification requirements;
o Document the actions taken.
- Inform Bureau Veritas within ten (10) days of changes in the ownership, structure of the organization
(e.g. changes in key managerial staff), certified management systems or circumstances which relate to the
implementation of FSC certification requirements;
- Agree, that in case of reduction, suspension or withdrawal of the scope of Bureau Veritas’s FSC
accreditation, the certification of the affected clients will be suspended within six (6) months after the date of
reduction, suspension or withdrawal of the respective scope of FSC accreditation;

Regarding the rights of the Bureau Veritas, ASI and FSC

- Agree, that Bureau Veritas has the right to delay or postpone its decision on certification, in order to
take account of new or additional information which has not already been considered in its audit report and
which, in the opinion of Bureau Veritas, could affect the outcome of its evaluation;
- Agree, that Bureau Veritas shall not be obliged to grant or maintain certification, if activities of the
client conflict with the obligations of the certification body as specified in its accreditation contract with ASI,
or which, in the sole opinion of the certification body, reflect badly on the good name of the certification
body;
- Agree, that Bureau Veritas and FSC have the right to revise the requirements of certification within
the period of validity of the certification, including the revision of costs and fees;
- Agree, that Bureau Veritas, FSC and ASI have the right to access confidential information, examine
documentation deemed necessary, and access to the relevant equipment, location(s), area(s), personnel,
and bodies providing outsourced services to clients;
- Agree that the certification body has the right to use information which is brought to its attention, to
follow up on misuses of the FSC trademarks and of the intellectual property rights held by FSC;
- Acknowledge the title of the FSC’s intellectual property rights and that FSC retains full ownership of
the intellectual property rights and that nothing shall be deemed to constitute a right for the client to use or
cause to be used any of the intellectual property rights
- Agree, that Bureau Veritas has the right to suspend and/ or withdraw its certification with immediate
effect if, in the sole opinion of Bureau Veritas, the client is not in conformity with the conditions specified for
the maintenance of certification
- Agree to participate to the Transaction Verification program

Regarding the actions relating to suspensions or withdrawal of certification

- Meet the following obligations on suspension or withdrawal of certification
o Immediately cease to make any use of any FSC trademarks, or to sell any products
previously labelled or marked using the FSC trademarks, or to make any claims that imply that they
conform with the requirements for certification
o Identify all existing certified and uncertified customers, inform those customers of the
suspension or withdrawal in writing within three (3) days of the suspension or withdrawal, and
maintain records
o Cooperate with Bureau Veritas and with FSC in order to allow Bureau Veritas or FSC to
confirm that these obligations have been met
- Meet the following additional obligations on withdrawal of certification:
o Return the certificate to Bureau Veritas or destroy the original, and commit to destroy any
electronic copies and printed copies in their possession
o At its own expense remove all uses of FSC’s name, initials, logo, certification mark or
trademarks from its products, documents, advertising or marketing materials.

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2 General presentation of the FSC Certification system

2.1 Presentation of the Forest Stewardship Council™
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global, not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of
responsible forest management worldwide. It was established in 1993 as a solution to respond to concerns over
deforestation at a global scale. FSC is regarded as one of the most important initiatives to promote responsible
forest management worldwide.
FSC is a certification system that provides internationally recognized standard-setting and trademark assurance
to companies, organizations, and communities interested in responsible forestry.
The FSC system is different from other certification schemes on two main points. The FSC Forest Management
(FM) international standard shall be adapted locally and this adaptation process, and later on the field audit, shall
use inputs from local stakeholders, or groups with an interest in forest management.
FSC certification system general purpose is to certify “responsible” forest management (FM Certification) and
afterward to certify the products generated from these certified forests all along the processing chain till the final
consumer. That transfer is only possible if all the links in the chain of custody (from the forest down to the retailer)
are certified, each link in the chain being defined by a transfer of property. It is the certification process called
Chain of Custody certification.
The FSC label provides a credible link between responsible production and consumption of forest products,
enabling consumers and businesses to make purchasing decisions that benefit people and the environment as
well as providing ongoing business value.

2.2 FSC COC system requirements

FSC system requirements are defined by the FSCTM Chain of Custody (CoC) standards. The FSC standards
related to chain of custody are mainly coded as: "FSC-STD-40-XXX”
When Bureau Veritas Certification issues an FSC COC certificate to a company, it provides a guarantee that the
company has demonstrated conformity with all the applicable FSC requirements at the time of Bureau Veritas’
evaluation.
BUREAU VERITAS Certification overall performance; review of independence; used policies; certification
decision process, implementation of complaint and appeal resolution are available on request.

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3 Certification Proposition
3.1 Certification process description
This document presents Bureau Veritas Certification procedures concerning FSC Chain of Custody certification.
These procedures are developed according to FSC certification requirements.
The FSC Chain of Custody certification standard is designed for application at the site level of Chain of Custody
operations.

3.2 Useful definition

Applicant:
Any legal entity applying for a certification and linked contractually with Bureau Veritas Certification.

Site:
Any location of a legal entity where the chain of custody is completely or partly managed. A single legal entity
can have several sites. Depending on the management implemented by the applicant, a multisite scheme can be
required (i.e. Holding with different legal entities who have different sites).

Multi-Site certification:
Certification designed for the certification of large enterprises that are linked by common ownership or
legal/contractual agreements. Ownership means at least 51% of ownership interest over the sites.

Group certification:
Specifically designed for the certification of independent small enterprises.

Outsourcing/subcontracting:
Practice of contracting an internal business process under the Chain of Custody (i.e. activities or tasks that
produce a specific service or product) to another organization rather than staffing it internally. Outsourced
activities usually take place outside the organization’s facilities; however, the organization may establish
outsourcing agreements with other entities operating within its facilities when the organization has no control or
supervision over the activities performed by the contractor.

4 Certification application
Any company interested in certification receives on request an Application Form, the present document (GP01)
and the applicable Chain of Custody standard(s). The whole FSC policies, standards, procedures, directives and
guidance are available on the FSC web site (https://ic.fsc.org/) in the Normative Framework.

4.1 Documentation list for application

4.1.1 For a single site application
The company shall provide the application form fulfilled with definition of the scope in terms of FSC product
groups and sites to be evaluated, and the leaflet (or any similar document) describing its activity.

4.1.2 For a group or multisite certification scheme

If the company applies for a multisite certification, the name, address, activities and number of employees of each
sites concerned has to be completed.

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4.2 Request and Offer of service preliminary examination

4.2.1 Quotation preparation
On return of the application form duly filled in, Bureau Veritas Certification prepares a certification quotation based
on the information given by the applicant.
Together with the offer, the general and specific terms of sale are sent.
Bureau Veritas shall reject applications for certification of management units or sites that are already covered by
a valid or suspended FSC certification, except where a certification transfer process according to FSC-PRO-20-
003 is ongoing.

4.2.2 Particular cases

4.2.2.1 Outsourcing:
Depending on its organization, the company may have to include its subcontractors in the certification scope. In
this case, the company should mention the subcontractor names & address and the number of employees and
the type of outsourcing to be included in the application form.
Subcontractors risk review will be done in order to quote the auditing time needed to have a reliable overview of
the complete Chain of Custody.
A sample of the “high risk” subcontractors will be audited by Bureau Veritas. The number of subcontractors to be
audited is calculated depending on the requirements defined on FSC-STD-20-011.

4.2.2.2 Multi-site certification

Bureau Veritas Certification will evaluate a sample of sites to be audited depending on the requirements defined
on FSC-STD-20-011.

4.2.2.3 Field verifications

Depending on the activity of the Company, audits at the supplier level or at the forest level will have to be
conducted by Bureau Veritas Certification.

4.2.2.4 Suppliers of reclaimed materials

If Company has a supplier audit program in compliance with the requirements of FSC-STD-40-007, Bureau
Veritas Certification shall carry out annual on-site verification audits of the supplier sites, unless the organization’s
supplier audits were out by another FSC accredited certification body, depending on the requirements defined on
FSC-STD-20-011.

4.2.2.5 Forest evaluation

Bureau Veritas Certification may have to conduct forest audits in order to evaluate the relevance, effectiveness
and adequacy of DDS conducted by companies applying the FSC-STD-40-005.
The number of supply units to be sampled will be given each year by Bureau Veritas Certification depending on
the risk level to be evaluated.

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4.2.2.6 Suppliers or sub-suppliers of non-certified materials

Bureau Veritas Certification may have to conduct audit of suppliers or sub-suppliers in order to evaluate the risk
of mitigation related to the mixing of material from non-eligible inputs for companies that apply the FSC-STD-40-
005. The number of suppliers or sub-suppliers to be sampled will be given each year by Bureau Veritas
Certification.

4.2.2.7 Organizations concerned by FSC-SFD-40-005

Additional auditing time will be evaluated for:
• DDS review
• Stakeholders consultation
Stakeholder’s consultation is conducted by Bureau Veritas Certification for initial audit or renewal audit of
companies applying the requirements of FSC-STD-40-005 when material is sourced from unassessed, specified
or unspecified risk areas.

4.3 Contract
When Bureau Veritas Certification’s proposal is sent back signed, the proposal becomes a contract between the
company and Bureau Veritas Certification.
At this precise part of the certification process, the company is called the applicant for certification. The optional
pre-audit realization shall be validated at this step.
The applicant must have a valid License Agreement for the FSC Certification Scheme.

5 Audit preparation
Bureau Veritas Certification and the applicant have to find an agreement on the audit team’s timetable and
composition to prepare the pre-audit (if applicable) and the initial audit. Also the audit scope shall be defined and
proposed by the applicant to Bureau Veritas Certification. This scope will be validated during the auditing process.
The applicant can ask for a revision of the audit team composition to avoid any conflict of interest between the
company and one or several audit team members. Bureau Veritas Certification reserves the audit team
composition final choice.
The audit preparation is finalized and presented to the applicant. The documents that will have to be examined
before the audit according to the audit scope are requested and shall be provided in a reasonably agreed
timeframe.
In case of a number of sites to be jointly included under the same certificate, verification system take place at the
site level and then at the upper level (Central Office) and depending on the management organization of the
applicant.

5.1 Bureau Veritas Certification FSC CoC Auditor qualification

Bureau Veritas Certification works with Forest-Wood industry specialists, in order to honour the following points:
• Independence
• Mastering of the process and industrial techniques
• Industry knowledge
To be considered as a Bureau Veritas Certification auditor, these specialists shall:
• Prove a technical competence and a professional experience in the wood industry field;
• Have followed a specific training for the audit and FSC normative documents;
• Have validated that training by having achieved at least three audits.

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For audits realization, specialist auditors are designated according to the 3 following criteria:
• Competence in the Company’s field of activity;
• Nearness of the Company’s offices;
• Availability on the certification dates wished by the Company.
Bureau Veritas Certification auditor cultivates a pragmatic and efficient approach. Priority is given to the
evaluation of the FSC Chain of Custody system as a tool allowing the company to master its activities and to
improve them. The audit has to be performed under a confidentiality commitment in regard to the Client’s
operations and the audits results

5.2 Audit team composition

An audit team is formed of at least one Bureau Veritas Certification lead auditor, sometimes helped by other
auditors.
The auditors shall sign a non-disclosure agreement to protect the applicant’s details.
If particular competences field is needed, Bureau Veritas Certification may call on specialist consultants / experts
who come with the adapted skills.

6 Pre-Audit
6.1 Pre-audit interest and realization
The pre-audit stage gives the opportunity to precise the scope of audit by identifying the industrial process
implemented as well as the critical monitoring points, and to demonstrate how is managed the audit by our
services. A gap analysis is realized between the monitoring/managerial system and the requirements of the FSC
Chain of Custody standard. Consequently, the applicant can decide when to proceed to the next step.
That step is not compulsory in the certification process; nevertheless it becomes necessary when the industrial
process is complex or when the company to be evaluated is important. The pre-audit is mostly carried out by the
auditor who will be the future main audit manager.
A pre-audit report is given to the applicant; it specifies the opportunities for improvement which can be
implemented before the initial audit. The time limit to carry out these actions between the pre-audit and the initial
main audit shall not exceed one year.

6.2 Opportunity for Improvement

On the pre-audit report basis, the applicant for certification sets up updating actions in order to find a solution to
dysfunctional points identified during pre-audit.
The applicant then notifies Bureau Veritas Certification by mail that the updating actions have been carried out
and Bureau Veritas Certification appoints an audit team to prepare the main audit. A period of about 3 weeks is
necessary for that stage.

7 Main Audit
7.1 Certification Audit Plan
In reasonable timelines, Bureau Veritas Certification sends to the Company a looking forward intervention
program which specifies the schedule and the scope of the evaluation.

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7.2 Main audit realization

7.2.1 Opening meeting
At the beginning of the audit an opening meeting is organized by the lead auditor to:
• Confirm the certification scope (definition of the Chain of custody managed by the applicant and
precise listing of the product groups and species into the CoC.)
• Present the team and audit programme
• Confirm the audit plan and logistic according to the latest changes that the Company may have
done.
The presence of the Company’s managers and heads of departments is necessary during that meeting so that
they can clearly perceive the way in which the audit will take place and thus be able to inform their staff.
Company managers are invited to have a clear view of the audit course and schedule. Therefore they can inform
their colleagues and help in the audit course fluency.

7.2.2 Audit course

First the audit team checks company's documents, then inspect the applicant's office and production site. The
audit team will assess respectively the managerial process and the operational monitoring implemented by the
applicant against the FSCTM standard applicable within the audit scope. Employee interviews are held in
accordance with the audit scope. If necessary outside participants may be interviewed (suppliers,
subcontractors...).
Audit team will also check the coherence between the products and the audit scope and a coherence checking
between input and output as well.
Ongoing problems within the CoC and proposition of corrective actions can be discussed with the auditor who
will not give solutions but just inform the applicant if the corrective actions are pertinent.

7.2.3 Closing meeting

The Lead Auditor organizes a closing meeting at the end of the audit. It gathers, as far as possible, the same
people as those who were present at the opening meeting.
That meeting enables to present the audit results and its conclusions, as well as handing in the nonconformity
reports and to have the audit conclusions signed.
Despite the audit will present the Non-Conformities (NC) during the closing meeting, the final wording and grading
of all NC will be submitted by Bureau Veritas Certification offices together with the finalized audit report resulting
from the certification decision.
Then, the lead auditor gives to the applicant a copy of the nonconformity reports signed.
At that stage, the initial audit results only expose the noted situation and facts, they do not allow a certificate
allocation decision.
The audit team produces a temporary initial audit report and submits it to the Bureau Veritas Certification technical
manager concerned. The audit report is reviewed by Bureau Veritas Certification, then this revised report is
transmitted to the applicant.

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7.3 Nonconformities and Corrective Actions

7.3.1 Nonconformities
It's the dysfunctions part of the process which are not compliant with the requirements of the applicable
standard(s) that are formalized on a nonconformity report (SF02).
Nonconformities shall always meet the following 3 criteria:
• Being objective and argued based on the relevant standard requirement;
• Being based on facts and evidences. No presumptions, wishes or discriminatory argue is
acceptable; Being understood and accepted by the Company.
According to their importance, nonconformities are balanced as:
Minor nonconformity: It's an unusual and non-systematic failure regarding the applicable requirements. It's not
to result in a fundamental failure to achieve the objective of the chain of custody requirement. If the minor
nonconformity is not corrected in the proper timelines, it shall be upgraded to a Major non conformity level. Also,
a number of recurrent minor non-conformity against a requirement can be considered as a permanent breakdown
of the chain of custody system and thus be considered as a Major non conformity.
The entity can be certified but it must put itself in conformity with the requirements in question within the year
following the initial audit.
Major nonconformity: It's a repeated or systematic failure generating a fundamental failure to achieve the
objective of the relevant requirement. This non conformity endangers the liability of the operating Chain of
Custody.
The entity cannot be certified as long as it does not meet the requirements in question and a complementary audit
specific to major NC can take place before any certification decision if necessary.
If the major nonconformity damages the image of FSC, it may lead to direct suspension or withdrawal of the
certificate (e.g. absence of implementation of the Controlled Wood requirements while some non-certified material
is mixed with FSC certified material).
If five (5) or more Major non conformities are raised during a surveillance audit, the certificate will be suspended
within 10 (10) days of the certification decision being taken until the major non conformities are closed.
Major non-conformities shall not be downgraded to minor non-conformities.
The absence of valid License Agreement for the FSC certification scheme will be treated as a major Non-
Conformity and the client will be requested to correct the NC within a maximum period of two (2) months. If this
NC is not closed by 2 months, it will lead to the suspension of certification.

7.3.2 Corrective Actions timeframes and upgrading

The corrective action shall answer the non-conformity and avoid any recurrence in the future. The applicant can
start corrective actions to close the nonconformities as soon as the nonconformity reports are signed. The
corrective action request timelines commence from the moment when they are formally presented to the client
and no later than 3 months from the audit closing date.
Bureau Veritas Certification will inform the client if the closure of NC involves an additional audit on site to assess
the corrective and preventive actions carried out by the client.
The Non-conformities closing shall have the following timeframes:
• Minor nonconformity shall be corrected within the maximum period of one (1) year (under
exceptional and justified circumstances the timeline may be extended to two (2) years);
• Major nonconformity shall be corrected by organization within seventy-five (75) days in order to be
closed within ninety (90) days by Bureau Veritas Certification (under exceptional and justified
circumstances within six (6) months).

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NOTE: Action(s) taken to correct a Major nonconformity may continue over a period of time which is longer than
three (3) months. However, action must be taken within the specified period which is sufficient to prevent new
instances of nonconformity within the scope of the certification.
The Audit Team shall determine whether Corrective Action have been appropriately implemented within their
timeframes. If the action taken is not considered adequate, then:
• Minor nonconformity shall become 'Major' nonconformity and shall be corrected within a maximum
period seventy-five (75) days in order to be closed within ninety (90) days by Bureau Veritas
Certification (or in exceptional and justified circumstances six (6) months).
• Major nonconformity shall lead to immediate suspension of the certificate.

8 Certification
8.1 Certification Decision
Certification decision is taken regarding audit documentation (e.g. audit report, checklists, NC reports, annexes).
Usually, the certification decision process takes 1 month to 1.5 month, depending on the complexity of the
applicant's organization.
Bureau Veritas Certification communicates certification decisions to the client maximum: six (6) months after the
main evaluation in the case of chain of custody evaluations after the main evaluation. The full audit report are
only communicated to the Certification Decision Making Entity, ASI and FSC.
Bureau Veritas Certification makes public the documentation required by the FSC (e.g. FSC Controlled
Wood Risk Assessment, FSC Controlled Wood Summary Report) in accordance with the related
standards.
In case of negative certification decision, Bureau Veritas Certification provides the reasons for this decision to the
client.
Bureau Veritas Certification shall not be obliged to grant or maintain certification, if the activities of the company
is in conflict with the obligations of Bureau Veritas Certification as specified in its accreditation contract with ASI,
or which, in the sole opinion of Bureau Veritas Certification, reflect badly on the good name of Bureau Veritas
Certification.

8.2 Certificate Issuance

When the certificate issuance is approved, a numbered certificate is issued, and the applicant becomes a FSC
Certificate Holder.
The period of validity of a certificate is five (5) years. It may be extended for a single exceptional extension of up
to six (6) months in order to permit re-evaluation to be completed, when justified by circumstances1 beyond the
control of the client and Bureau Veritas Certification. The client shall record such circumstances and provide it
to Bureau Veritas Certification to be able to record it in its own FSC management system and update the entry
in the FSC data base (info.fsc.org).
When the certificate is issued, the company can communicate on its certification and use the FSC label for
promotional use or on-product labelling in accordance with trademark usage relevant standards.

1
Justifiable circumstances for an extension exclude problems in planning or scheduling an audit.

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9 Specific process: Evaluation of FSC Controlled Wood

according to FSC-STD-40-005
Companies that source material without a FSC claim in order to sell it as FSC Controlled Wood or use it in the
production of products with the FSC Mix label have to be in compliance with the requirements of the standard
FSC-STD-40-005. This standard outlines the requirements for a due diligence system (DDS) for FSC Chain of
Custody certified organizations in order to avoid material from unacceptable sources.
Bureau Veritas Certification will study the relevance, effectiveness and adequacy of DDS put in place by the
organization as well as the risk assessments and control measures carried out by the organization in order to
avoid material from unacceptable sources.
This evaluation will be led in 2 steps.

9.1 Off-site evaluation

The process starts with an off site evaluation of the information provided by the applicant to verify that such
information is complete, consistent, accurate, trustworthy and reliable.
A list of documents will be asked to the organization, including its written summery of DDS and its Chain of
Custody procedures.
This documentation will be evaluated in order to evaluate relevance and adequacy of the DDS.
In parallel, a stakeholder consultation will be carried out by Bureau Veritas Certification.
Risk assessments conducted by the organization for its existing supply areas will be evaluated as well as the
adequacy of control measures decided by the organization as part of risk mitigation.
At the end of the off-site evaluation, Bureau Veritas Certification:
• Evaluates the DDS procedure;
• Approbates Risk assessments;
• Gives instructions for the on-site evaluation with a sampling (field verification at forest level or
supplier/sub supplier level, control measures to be verified, documents to be sampled on site) and
specific instructions.

9.2 On-site evaluation

During On site audit step, Bureau Veritas Certification will have to evaluate the effectiveness of DDS on the
basis of operational aspects, by sampling some documentation related to non-certified supplies, through
interviews and, when applicable, forest evaluation, suppliers / sub supplier’s evaluation.

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10 Certification process synthesis

Company’s certification contract is signed

with Bureau Veritas OPTIONAL

Pre-Audit planning

Pre-audit? Yes
Pre-audit realisation

No Pre audit report and

updating actions
Main Audit planning request.

Updating realisation
Main audit carried out by the
realisation company

Major No
nonconformity

Yes
Certification Decision
Corrective action
Implementation

Nonconformity Certificate Issuance

correction

Complementary FSC Database

audit realization Registration

No Yes FSC Trademark

Closed non- Portal Access
conformities?

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11 Certification Maintenance
11.1 Surveillance Audits
The objective of surveillance audit is to monitor the client’s continued conformance to all applicable certification
requirements.
The surveillance audit shall be performed at least annually.
If 5 or more major NCs are issued, the certificate is suspended within ten (10) days of the certification decision
being taken.
NOTE: In the context of surveillance “annually” is to be interpreted as follows: at least once per calendar year,
but not later than 15 months after the last audit (determined by the date of the on-site audit or desk audit).
During the certificate period of validity, if Bureau Veritas Certification notices major nonconformities entailing
major corrective actions requests, the certificate may be suspended until the company implements the
appropriate measures to be compliant.
Once per year, before the surveillance audit, the certified company shall provide Bureau Veritas Certification the
list of “FSC certified products” purchased and sold with, when applicable, species, quantity and suppliers. The
information is considered as strictly confidential.
If the certificate holder would like to include a new product in its FSC product group list, the related product
description shall be provided to Bureau Veritas Certification and formally asked to be included into the certification
scope.
For multiple and group of certification, the audit of the central office has to be performed every year.
The audit of the sampling sites has to be performed maximum 15 month from the last audit of the
central office.

11.2 Re-certification Audit

During this audit Bureau Veritas Certification makes a complete evaluation as a Main audit.
In order to reduce the risk of gap between two (2) certification periods, the certification holder is supposed to ask
for re-accreditation at least six (6) months before the certificate validity expires.

11.3 Certificate Scope modification

The scope of the certificate can be modified (extended or reduced) under request of each parties (Bureau Veritas
Certification or the certificate holder).
In case of scope extension, Bureau Veritas Certification reserves the right to inspect the site of the certificate
holder. Any scope modification cannot extend the validity period of the certificate.

11.4 Special audits

A special audit could be requested during the cycle of certification if BVC wants to verify any additional points:
- Complaint received by BVC
- Request from FSC or ASI
- Closure of non-conformities
- Additional time to finish an audit (new high-risk contractors in its certificate scope, new organization to be
audited, additional information to be collected, …)
- Lifting of suspension, …

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An amendment to the existing contract has to be made. The management of this amendment follows the same
rules as indicated on §3.
If the organization wants to include new high-risk contractors in its certificate scope in the period between
evaluations, a physical inspection of a sample of the new contractors shall be conducted according to the sampling
criteria.

12 Trademark use management system

Prior to each new use of the FSC trademarks, the organization shall ensure trademark use control by
implementing an internal trademark approval process or by receiving external approval from Bureau Veritas
Certification.
The organization may ask Bureau Veritas Certification for being granted the status of “FSC trademark self-
approver”.
Instead of submitting all intended uses of FSC trademarks to Bureau Veritas Certification for approval, the
organization may implement its own trademark use management system with an internal control system. This
system shall be approved by the Bureau Veritas Certification before the organization may start using it.
Organization shall ask Bureau Veritas for the procedure to comply with in order to obtain the status of “FSC
trademark self-approver”.

13 Certification Costs
The costs of the certification process include:
- Administrative fees
- Audits preparation: Gathering of the applicants' information and a planning of the operations (audit team
constitution, stakeholders' preliminary consultation, diverse documents realization, and communication to
the applicant).
- Audits cost: (pre-audit, initial audit, complementary audit and surveillance audit) correspond to the
evaluation time, on the field, of the audit team
- Audit Reporting cost: It depends on the evaluation length and the number of auditors involved.
- FSC AAF fees: which is linked to the certification activities according to data collected during the audit.
When the certificate is granted, an annual fee is invoiced and payable annually by the certified organization,
calculated according to FSC rules. The amount of the annual fee may be modified by the FSC at any time.
The non-payment of the annual FSC Fee will lead to the certificate withdrawal. The payment must be done
also for FSC clients suspended.
- Traveling and accommodation costs: During the audits, the auditors traveling and accommodation costs
are charged to the applicant or the certified organization as pre-agreed at a fixed rate or at cost.
- FSC trademark use validation: Bureau Veritas Certification will invoice to certificate holder FSC trademark
approval fees as defined in the contract.
- Scope and certification modification fees: It includes any modification on FSC website and (or) the
certificate. The cost shall be charged according to the contract with certificate holder.

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14 Certificate: Suspension/Withdrawal, Scope modification

The suspension can be granted if:
• Some major non-conformities have not been implemented within the maximum timeframe
• No valid License Agreement for the FSC Certification Scheme
• Audit surveillance has not been performed on-time
• Five or more major corrective action requests issued to the central office of a group or multisite by
the certification body shall result in the suspension of the entire certificate
• Refusal to pay FSC AAF Fees
• Refusal to pay all specified fees and costs in a timely manner
A suspended certificate doesn't give the allowance to sell any FSCTM certified products.
A FSC certificate cannot be suspended for more than twelve (12) months. Upon justified and exceptional
circumstances the suspension period may be extended to six (6) additional months to allow the client to correct
nonconformities. In order to cancel a certificate suspension, a complementary audit (documentary or onsite audit)
is conducted in order to verify the carrying out of the requested corrective action(s).

The withdrawal can be granted if:

• The certificate is expired
• The certificate holder intentionally or through negligence discredit or damage the reputation of FSC
AC or one of its subsidiaries or of associated organizations
• The certificate holder intentionally or through negligence discredit or damage the reputation of
Bureau Veritas Certification
• The suspension not lifted after the maximum period of suspension
• The certificate holder refuses to pay FSC AAF Fees
• The certificate holder violates one or more elements of the Policy for the Association of
Organizations with FSC
The organization shall remove all FSCTM Trademark uses within 3 months after certificate termination.
In case of disrespect of the certification rules or damage on the FSCTM image some disciplinary measure will be
engaged.

15 Complaints and Appeals process

15.1 Complaints
It's a formal expression of dissatisfaction relating to the activities of Bureau Veritas Certification and/or its
subsidiaries.
The formal complaint shall be transmitted to Bureau Veritas Certification Local Office (LO).
Client can refer its complaint to Bureau Veritas Certification's policy for Complaints and Appeals Management for
forest & wood certification.
Complaints could be registered directly on-line by the complainant on Bureau Veritas Certification website, or
directly on the Bureau Veritas Certification local office’s.
In case of formal complaint or allegations, Bureau Veritas Certification reserves the right to make, at
its expense, unannounced or short notice surveillance audit in both the offices and production sites of
the Client.

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15.2 Appeals:
An appeal can be initiated if the appellant against either Bureau Veritas Certification or and/or its subsidiaries
don’t agree with:
• a decision made by Bureau Veritas Certification
• a grade of NCR and no agreement possible between the auditor and the client
• a NCR raised and no agreement possible between the auditor and the client
• a rejection of corrective action proposed by the client and no agreement between the auditor and
the client
• a decision made by Bureau Veritas Certification following the management of its complaint

In case of appeal, the formal appeal shall be transmitted to Bureau Veritas Certification FSC Hub Office.

FSC is committed to facilitating consistent and timely evaluation of complaints and appeals raised by stakeholders
against decisions, performances or any other issues within the FSC scheme. This process is fully defined through
"FSC Dispute Resolution System" Procedures, available on FSC Website. Bureau Veritas Certification will make
the necessary to resolve the disputes, according to the Bureau Veritas Certification’s complaints and appeals
procedure, however if an agreement cannot be found after the parties’ negotiation, the complaint will have to
be sent to ASI and ultimately to FSC, in case of disagreement with audit findings related to FSC normative
documents.

16 Applicable Standards
16.1 FSC-STD-40-004
To demonstrate efficiency of the chain of custody implemented in the company, compliance with the FSC-STD-
40-004 applicable version shall be demonstrated.
The FSC-STD-40-004 has to be respected in all sites concerned by the certification scope.

16.2 FSC-STD-40-005
If the company would like to mix non FSC certified material with FSC certified material, in order to produce "FSC
Mix" certified products and to ensure the credibility of the system, compliance with the FSC-STD-40-005 shall be
demonstrated in addition with the Chain of Custody standard.

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16.3 FSC-STD-40-003
In case of multiple site certifications, the applicant has to designate the Central Office which shall centralize and
manage the different chains of custody operations involved in the group and multi-sites. Compliance with this
standard shall be demonstrated in case of group and multi-site scheme and chain of custody standard applied in
every site involved in the certification scope.

Specific conditions to add site(s) on certificate

Type of request Main contact Document requested BV action

from the client
Scope of the new sites different to BV Local office List of sites Contract to be
the existing one (different activity, or amended, on-site
control of FSC claim: transfer, %, Internal audit reports of audit to be
the sites to be added performed
credit) or
Sampling of the
Same scope and number of new sites to be
Participating Sites exceed the added
approved growth limit defined
during the last audit
Same scope and Certificate with 20 email to List of sites Sites added
or fewer Participating Sites at the SSCWOODCO within 1 week on
time of the main evaluation. [email protected] Internal audit reports of FSC database
uveritas.com the sites to be added
No extension
Document describing his audit to be
Capacity of the Central performed
Office to manage a
higher number of
Participating Sites
Same scope and email to List of sites Sites added
Certificate with more than 20 SSCWOODCO within 1 week on
Participating Sites and [email protected] Internal audit reports of FSC database
uveritas.com the sites to be added
Below the approved growth limit
No extension
defined during the last audit audit to be
performed

Multi-site and Group COC certificates without a Central Office Audit Program can only add new
Participating Sites to the scope of the certificate after they have been audited and approved by BV.

If a Participating Site in a “Group COC certificate” ceases to conform to the eligibility criteria due to an
increase in employees or turnover, its participation in the Group shall become 'transitional'.
Participating Sites shall re-consider their eligibility for Group certification 12 months after the beginning
of the transitional status. If they still do not conform to the eligibility criteria at that time, they shall be
removed from the Group within a period of 3 months.

When a Participating Site leaves the certificate, the Central Office shall inform BV in writing within 3
working days.

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16.4 FSC-STD-40-007
If the product output to be included in the scope of certification is issued from reclaimed material, the sourcing of
this material shall be assessed against FSC-STD-40-007 standard in addition with Chain of Custody standard.

17 Confidentiality
The Bureau Veritas Certification office staff and its auditors commit themselves to deal in a strictly confidential
manner with any information or any documents which they get know n during audits.
The confidentiality can be invalid in the following conditions:
• Legal appeal
• Written agreement granted by the Company.
Bureau Veritas Certification is responsible for the management of all information obtained or created during the
performance of certification activities. Information is considered proprietary and shall be regarded as confidential,
except for information that the client makes or is required to make publicly available, that FSC and ASI are entitled
to access, or when agreed between the Bureau Veritas Certification and the client (e.g. for the purpose of
responding to complaints).
The company ensures to Bureau Veritas Certification, ASI and to the FSC a free access to the persons and
bodies providing outsourcing services to the client, the sites, relevant equipment, location(s), areas, the
documents and confidential information during the certificate validity period and, if a complaint requires extra
information, after a certificate suspension or withdrawal.

18 Observer's participation to audit

Bureau Veritas Certification can be led to associate observers to its Certification or monitoring audits. These
observers can be:
• Bureau Veritas Certification in-house auditors (within the scope of Bureau Veritas Certification in-
house audit activities)
• Bureau Veritas Certification International in-house auditors (Bureau Veritas Certification in-house
audit by Bureau Veritas Certification International network)
• Bureau Veritas Certification auditors in training
• ASI auditors (Accreditation Services International - Accreditation Organization for FSC) (at the time
of a Bureau Veritas Certification audit within the scope of accreditation programs)
The company has to accept the presence of an accreditation organization representative during Bureau Veritas
Certification audits. In the other cases, the observer’s presence is submitted to the Company’s agreement.

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19 Management of change
The company must inform Bureau Veritas Certification within ten (10) days of changes in the ownership,
structure of the organization (e.g. changes in key managerial staff), certified management systems, outsourcer
or circumstances which relate to the implementation of FSC certification requirements.
A change of scope may be necessary as a result of changes in ownership, structure of the organization, or
management systems.
If a standard is revised, Bureau Veritas Certification will contact within 30 days (starting from the changes had
been approved by the approval body) the client and communicate the actions to be done to get the certification
against the new standard revised. Clients that were certified prior to the effective date of approval of a new or
revised applicable FSC normative document shall be audited against the requirements of the new or revised
document in accordance with the applicable transition requirements.
Bureau Veritas Certification reserves the rights to revise the relevant requirements of certification within
the period of validity of the certificate.
Bureau Veritas Certification informs the relevant Clients within 30 days about the change of the FSC
accreditation scope of Bureau Veritas Certification, and the Client have to seek a new FSC-accredited
certification body within six (6) months to keep their certificate valid.

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