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Report from
Europe
Certification schemes lay out EUDR compliance
support
Given the huge dependence on FSC and PEFC by
suppliers into and out of the EU and for internal EU trade
for provision of data on provenance and forestry practices,
the extent to which these systems can adapt, or not, to the
new requirements of the EU Deforestation Regulation
(EUDR) will have a strong bearing on access to the EU
market and on the continuing global competitiveness of
European wood product manufacturers and traders in the
future.
FSC webinars in recent weeks have detailed its guidance
and support to help certified companies meet EUDR
obligations. PEFC is also progressing alignment of its
system and standards with the EUDR to aid PEFC-
certified businesses’ compliance.
The FSC webinars, recordings or which are available on
its website, covered its FSC EUDR Aligned Standard
which will be launched in June this year as an added
option for all FSC certified companies. Within this, its
EUDR Regulatory Module will provide added components
on avoiding implication in deforestation and forest
degradation and take companies through EUDR alignment
of due diligence processes and reports.
FSC has also been explaining how its new “FSC
Blockchain” platform will work. This is designed to
enable certified companies to meet the EUDR obligation
for geolocation coordinates identifying the origin of timber
and wood products. This obligation is imposed directly on
companies that first place regulated products on the EU
market, that export these products from the EU market,
and companies which are not SMEs trading inside the EU.
The new FSC platform aims to enable businesses to
transmit product origin and harvest date data throughout
the supply chain. Confidentiality of sourcing information
is key, says the FSC, and only those who upload data to
the system will be able to say who can access it. EU
Competent Authorities are also being kept informed on
how it will operate and help generate due diligence
statements for submission to the EU.
Ahead of the EU benchmarking supplier countries under
the EUDR as low, standard or high risk of commodity
production causing deforestation and forest degradation,
FSC is additionally revising 20 of its 60 country risk
assessments, looking at risks of illegality and
unsustainable practice. Its new Risk Assessment
Framework will be unveiled in June, with the 20 revised
national assessments available by January 2025.
The PEFC ran a webinar ‘On the path to EUDR
alignment’ on 27 February delivering the latest on
development of its sustainable forest management and
chain of custody standards to help certified companies to
satisfy the regulation. A PEFC Sustainable Forest
Management Working Group has worked on ‘identifying
and validating gaps between its sustainable forest
management standard and EUDR requirements’ and
revisions of the standards are out for consultation through
February/March, with the final versions available in May.
PEFC is also developing an EUDR-adapted due diligence
system (DDS) to enable companies to implement the
regulation, which will be compatible with the existing
PEFC DDS in its chain of custody standard. The new
system, says PEFC, will actually go further than EUDR
requirements by also covering its controversial sources
definition.
By implementing the PEFC EUDR Module alongside the
PEFC SFM and Chain of Custody Standards, PEFC says
operators will ensure they are undertaking due diligence in
line with the EUDR’s requirements, including on risk
assessment and definitions of controversial sources and
deforestation.
The organisation is also focusing on the EUDR’s demand
for timber geolocation data. “Certified organisations and
PEFC members can expect guidance on how best to
approach EUDR compliance data issues, including, where
appropriate, suggested standardised methods for obtaining,
storing, and presenting necessary data,” it states.
A proposition is that PEFC-certified forest concession
owners/managers upload timber origin geolocation
coordinates to a PEFC database and be assigned a PEFC
identification number. PEFC-certified operators will then
access the geolocation data using that number. The data
will be confidential to the operator. Those further down
the supply chain will be given the number as proof that
geolocation information is available if required, but they
will not be able to access the data themselves.
Both FSC and PEFC have also revised their
deforestation/forest land conversion cut-off date, after
which they cannot be certified to the end of 2020 to match
the EUDR. The FSC proviso is that forest restitution and
restoration has taken place between its earlier 1994 cut-off
point and the new date.
FSC and PEFC stress that their certification schemes will
not give business a ‘green lane’ through the EUDR. It will
be the responsibility of individual certified companies to
undertake the requisite due diligence. But they claim the
adaptation of their systems and standards to its
requirements will go a long way in aiding and providing
guidance on compliance.
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