Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - Letter Response to OHCHR on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Allegations

Oct 3, 2026

Uploaded by aboduw

Letter from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights addressing concerns about a certificate holder and Indigenous Peoples’ rights. FSC explains its standard procedures for reviewing allegations, outlines how certification standards and evaluations operate, and describes roles of certification bodies and Assurance Services International (ASI). It responds to multiple observation requests with findings from assessments, including a legal land dispute context and measures used regarding voluntary isolation and contact risk.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages6

Reading Time15 min

AccessFree to download

Background and FSC response

Certification standards and oversight

ASI assessments and investigations

Observations and answers

Allegations on concession-related rights overlap

Consent and voluntary isolation concerns

18 August 2023 Beatriz Balbin Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Des Nations 1211 Geneva 10 Switzerland Fax: +41 22 9179008 Tel: +41 22 917 83 41 / +41 22 917 9738 Email: [ochr-registry@un.org](ochr-registry@un.org) , [registry@un.org](registry@un.org) Dear Ms. Beatriz Balbin, Thank you for your letter dated June 19, 2023, in which you highlighted your concerns regarding a certificate holder within Forest Stewardship Council (“FSC”) and requested certain pieces of information about our organization including processes and procedures. FSC takes all allegations about the violation of Indigenous People’s rights seriously and assures the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights that the matter will be reviewed via all appropriate channels following FSC’s standard procedures. FSC is deeply saddened by these allegations. As an organization working towards responsible forest management for over twenty years, we take every measure possible to ensure adherence to regulatory standards. As the leader in sustainable forestry, FSC is trusted by NGOs, businesses, and consumers worldwide to protect healthy, resilient forests for all, forever. FSC sets standards for forestry operations that want to conform with sustainable forestry requirements including good management practices, and for producers and traders of forest products who want to source from these suppliers and communicate this to their customers. In addition, FSC sets standards for certification bodies (“CBs”) to follow during their evaluations of organizations’ conformity with forest management and chain of custody standards. FSC’s standards on CBs, forest management and chain of custody form the foundation of the certification system. Actors in FSC’s certification system each play a key role in getting products from the forest to the market; as well as ensuring the protection of forests for future generations. Certificate holders conform with the requirements set by FSC in the certification standards. In conforming with FSC standards, certificate holders ensure that their forests and forest sector products are responsibly sourced and managed, thereby yielding environmental, social and economic benefits. CBs carry out the forest management and chain of custody evaluations that lead to FSC certification. They also conduct audits to ensure that certificate holders continue to conform with FSC’s certification requirements. If they do not conform, then their CB may suspend or terminate their certificate, and FSC may block them from the system. Just as conformity of certificate holders is checked by CBs, CB performance is also checked by an independent third-party, Assurance Services International (“ASI”) . ASI carries out annual checks on the CBs through officebased, remote and field assessments. If a CB does not conform with the required standard, then ASI may suspend them. In addition, ASI carries out additional investigations on certificate holders at the direction of FSC, as well as following allegations of wrongdoing. In response to your letter and the five requests for observations from our side, FSC has compiled the following answers. 1a. Please provide any additional information and/or comment(s) you may have on the abovementioned allegations. On the overlap of rights claims over concessions distributed to Canales Tahuamanu S.A. C: In October 2022, ASI conducted an assessment of the CB’s evaluations of the certificate holder Maderera Canales Tahuamanu following the death of a logger after an encounter with indigenous people. During the assessment, ASI investigated how the CB evaluated the compliance of Maderera Canales Tahuamanu through a documentation review with FSC principles of indigenous peoples’ rights. ASI determined that there is an ongoing legal land dispute between the Maderera Canales Tahuamanu and FENAMAD regarding part of the forest management area belonging to the Maderera Ca

FAQs

What is FSC’s overall process for handling allegations?

FSC states it takes allegations about Indigenous Peoples’ rights seriously and assures OHCHR the matter will be reviewed through appropriate channels following FSC’s standard procedures.

What roles do certification bodies (CBs) and ASI play in the FSC system?

CBs conduct forest management and chain of custody evaluations and audits to ensure continued conformity. ASI independently performs annual checks on CBs and can suspend them if required standards are not met, and also conducts additional investigations.

What did ASI conclude regarding the allegations involving concessions distributed to Maderera Canales Tahuamanu?

ASI reported an ongoing legal land dispute with FENAMAD over part of the forest management area, concluded Maderera Canales Tahuamanu were the official guardian of its state-distributed concessions, and stated it found no evidence that Indigenous Peoples’ claims overlapped with those concessions based on reviewed documentation.

Oct 3, 2026

Uploaded by aboduw