While the EUDR is a European legislation, its implications are global. Companies placing or exporting the affected products in or from the EU market will have to conduct due diligence to confirm that the products have not been sourced from land which was deforested or degraded after 31 December 2020.
This series of webinars kicked off on 18 January 2024 with 'EUDR - One Year to Implementation' (recording below). This provides a broad overview of the efforts FSC has undertaken in relation to the EU’s Regulation on Deforestation Free Products (EUDR).
This webinar introduces FSC’s offer, one of which is the development of requirements for the FSC Regulatory Module: a voluntary module that complements existing FSC certification requirements to support EUDR compliance. It presents additional forest management, chain of custody and controlled wood requirements for organisations looking to use their FSC certification to support their efforts to demonstrate compliance with EUDR. The FSC Regulatory Module sets the framework and requirements to:
- introduce a due diligence system to support EUDR compliance, including information collection, risk assessment and risk mitigation,
- gather and transmit precise information on the origin of products (geolocation and time of production),
- offer a traceability system that goes beyond the current FSC chain of custody, and
- adds further assurance that only deforestation-free material enters into an FSC chain of custody value chain that needs to be EUDR compliant.
FSC’s new Policy to Address Conversion and Risk Assessments
To further tighten the FSC system to deliver deforestation-free products, FSC is also bringing forward implementation of the changes required as part of FSC’s new Policy to Address Conversion, which was voted for by members in 2022. These changes will, for now, be introduced in the form of Advice Notes to the existing certification system - which will ultimately ensure products from any sort of conversion that is possible, even in exceptional circumstances as outlined in the Policy to Address Conversion, do not enter the system as an “FSC Claim.”
The final piece of the normative alignment towards EUDR is the FSC Risk Assessments. These are the next generation of FSC’s existing risk assessment framework for controlled wood sourcing. We envisage that these will become an invaluable tool for companies to assess and mitigate risks efficiently. The public consultation for the above normative introductions/changes will be open from 1 February to 1 March 2023.
Summary of all upcoming webinars related to FSC and EUDR
The webinars to learn more about changes being introduced are open for registration and will be available in simultaneous interpretation into Spanish and French. Register below!
Consultation webinars focusing on FSC normative framework:
Webinar on FSC Regulatory Module, systemic changes and FSC Risk Assessments
- Tuesday, 13 February 2024: 8:00 UK time (Register here)
- Monday, 19 February 2024: 15:00 UK time (Register here)
Webinar on FSC Regulatory Module and systemic changes
- Wednesday, 14 February 2024: 8:00 UK time (Register here)
- Wednesday, 14 February 2024: 15:00 UK time (Register here)
Webinar on FSC Risk Assessments
- Tuesday, 20 February 2024, 8:00 UK time (Register here)
- Tuesday, 20 February 2024, 15:00 UK time (Register here)
As well as the incoming normative changes, FSC’s alignment towards EUDR will be strongly supported by the upgrades that FSC is working on to improve its certification infrastructure towards digitisation and improved data management and access. These include the FSC Forest Atlas and FSC Blockchain. All of these digital and normative solutions come together to create a comprehensive package called FSC EUDR Aligned.
To learn more about FSC & EUDR, please visit our webpage or read our FAQ. Stay informed on the evolution of the FSC Regulatory Module by checking the process page.