Impact assessment of the revised Chain of Custody standard - FSC-STD-40-004 V3-0 EN - Draft

Oct 3, 2026

Impact assessment of the revised FSC Chain of Custody (CoC) standard evaluates potential effects on FSC and its stakeholders, responding to an FSC Board decision at BM71 in March 2016 to establish a feasibility and impact analysis system and better align with the FSC Global Strategic Plan. The desk-based study uses FSC strategic reviews, internal policy template questions, past General Assembly motions, stakeholder feedback, and working group discussions. It supports the third public consultation and informs board decision-making alongside the final draft standard.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Methodology

Stakeholders’ expectations

Improving access to and benefits from CoC certification

Providing clarity

Topics considered in this consultation

Transaction verification

Social requirements

Impact assessment of the revised Chain of Custody standard FSC-STD-40-004 V3-0 EN Title: Impact assessment of the revised Chain of Custody standard Status: Draft Contact for comments: FSC International Center -Policy and Standards UnitCharles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5 53113 Bonn, Germany +49- (0)228-36766-0 +49- (0)228-36766-30 [policy.standards@fsc.org](policy.standards@fsc.org) The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an independent, not for profit, non-government organization established to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. FSC’s vision is that the world’s forests meet the social, ecological, and economic rights and needs of the present generation without compromising those of future generations. Introduction This document contains an assessment of the potential impacts that the revised CoC standard would have on FSC and FSC stakeholders. The impact assessment aims to respond to the decision of the FSC Board of Directors at the BM71 meeting in March 2016, “requesting the FSC secretariat to set up a new system of feasibility and impact analysis”, to better align policy and standards work with the FSC Global Strategic Plan. The analysis was done by FSC staff as a desk-based study and intends to serve stakeholders as a complementary source of information during the third round of public consultation of the revised draft CoC standard. A revised report will be shared with the FSC Board together with the final draft standard to inform the decision making process. The following methodology was used for the assessment: The FSC Global Strategic Plan was reviewed as well as the Policy and Standards Unit Review Report template, which contains a set of questions to guide development of impact assessment reports. In addition to relevant FSC membership Motions of past General Assemblies (GAs) , stakeholder feedback provided during the chain of custody revision process and working group discussions were considered. What are stakeholders’ expectations? A core expectation as formulated in FSC’s Global Strategic Plan, critical result area 1.1 is that “FSC will improve certification uptake, cost-effectiveness and outcomes by stabilizing and simplifying FSC policies, standards and procedures while maintaining system integrity, transparency, and credibility.” The revision of the CoC standard is additionally guided by a number of motions approved by the FSC membership during the FSC general assembly in 2011. The expectations of the FSC membership covers a wide range of topics, which can be grouped into 2 categories: Improving access to and benefits from CoC certification • Motion 38 called for a chamber-balanced study to be conducted to evaluate the risks and benefits of pre-consumer material from a market, environmental and social perspective. • Motion 44 called for the revision of the CoC standard and development of tools and templates to improve access for small enterprises to CoC certification. • Motion 45 required FSC to examine barriers and opportunities for enhanced FSC-retailer collaboration, including improved CoC procedures. Providing clarity • Motion 43 requested the development of a policy to guide certificate holders in communicating truthfully and transparently about FSC Mix products whose visible and characterizing components are not FSC-certified but are Controlled Wood. • Motion 46 required FSC to clarify the intent of the credit system, in particular by providing clarification on key definitions used to apply the CoC control systems, such as “product groups”, “quality of inputs” and “conversion factor”. Additionally, following stakeholder feedback, the following topics have been considered in this consultation: Transaction verification FSC is proposing new criteria to address the risk of false claims in the system, which is called “transaction verification”. Transaction verification is a mechanis

FAQs

What is the purpose of this impact assessment?

It assesses the potential impacts the revised CoC standard would have on FSC and FSC stakeholders and supports decision-making for the third round of public consultation.

How was the assessment methodology developed?

It used reviews of the FSC Global Strategic Plan and policy template questions, and considered prior General Assembly motions, stakeholder feedback, and working group discussions.

What is “transaction verification” in the revised CoC proposal?

It is a mechanism for certification bodies to confirm that certificate holders’ FSC input/output claims are correct and match declared inputs/outputs by trading partners, supported by the Online Claims Platform (OCP).

Why are social requirements and ILO Core Conventions addressed?

Some stakeholders expected amendments and requested criteria requiring certificate holder compliance with the ILO Core Conventions as part of the CoC revision process.

Oct 3, 2026

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