Promotional licensing

If you buy FSC-labelled products from an FSC-certified supplier and either use them in your business (e.g. toilet rolls, office paper) or sell them on, unchanged, to the public, a promotional licence may offer an alternative to chain of custody certification.

Shop floor

Promotional licence or certification?

A promotional licence allows an organisation to use the FSC trademarks promotionally, but does not allow it to apply the FSC trademarks to products or sales documents.

If you want to apply an FSC label to your products yourself and/or sell them with an FSC claim, or if you are involved in the processing or transformation of FSC-certified products (e.g. manufacturing, repackaging, pack-splitting, relabelling, cutting to size or adding other forest-based components to the product) you will need FSC chain of custody certification.

Who is eligible for a promotional licence?

  • Retailers that buy finished, FSC-labelled products and sell them on unchanged to end-users (e.g. the general public)
  • Organisations that wish to promote their use of FSC-certified products in their activities e.g. a company using FSC-certified packaging for their products
  • Consultants, training companies and investment organisations working within the environmental sector
  • Parent or holding companies that own several FSC-certified companies or branches
FSC Trademark Use Guide for Promotional Licence Holders
PDF, Size: 11.97MB

FSC trademark use by promotional licence holders

Our trademarks include the initials FSC, the name Forest Stewardship Council, the FSC 'tick-tree' or 'checkmark-and-tree' logo, and the ‘Forests For All Forever’ trademarks in English, French, Chinese, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian.

Our trademarks have been designed not only to promote the work of FSC and to inspire a love for forests, but also to enhance your brand and show your customers you care. This guide shows how FSC promotional licence holders can use our globally recognised trademarks for the promotion of FSC and FSC-certified products and services.

Applying for a licence

step
01

Get in touch

Contact FSC UK - we will assess whether your organisation is eligible to hold a promotional licence

step
02

Apply

Complete an application form

step
03

Provide evidence

Provide evidence of the certified status of any products your organisation sells/uses

step
04

Fees and signing

We will confirm your licence fee and send you a licence agreement to sign

step
05

Get up to speed

Learn how to use your licence and the FSC trademarks

step
06

And go!

Start using the FSC trademarks (make sure each use is authorised by FSC UK)

APPLYING FOR PROMO LICENCE_v2_2022.pdf
PDF, Size: 9.33MB

Application guidance

For more information on how to apply for a promotional licence and provide evidence of FSC product certification, download our guide.