The Forest Stewardship Council^® is an international non-profit, membership organisation that promotes responsible forest management throughout the world. Their vision is to make sure the socio-economic as well as the ecological needs of the current generation, are met while still preserving the forests for future generations.

The organisation also provides a forum where international stakeholders can discuss and formulate appropriate forest management criteria. Their main goal is to set the standards to which companies, organisations and communities adhere to for environmentally-friendly forestry.

In order to earn the right to use the FSC^® logo and trademark, stringent standards need to be met before the certificates are issued with a step-by-step process to be followed.

• Information about the company is to be sent through to an accredited FSC^® certification body who will give an estimate of the cost and time needed for the process, the body will provide the applicant with the requirements for certification.
• A certification body is selected and an agreement is signed between the applicant and the chosen body.
• A certification audit is then carried out to see if the applicant meets the requirements.
• Based on the findings of the audit, a decision is made on whether or not to issue the certification to the applicant.
• Thereafter if the results are positive, an FSC^® certificate is issued and the applicant gets a specific code that can be displayed in the appropriate format along with the FSC^® logo on its products and promotional material.

Applicants that are not initially successful can re-apply for the audit once they have made the necessary changes for compliance.

An FSC^® certificate is valid for 5 years and surveillance audits are held annually to ensure the FSC^® standards are met¹.

^{1 – fsc.org – 5 steps towards FSC certification}

There are many examples of vast improvements in local communities as a result of FSC^® certification.

One example includes the Mpingo Conservation and Development Initiative in Tanzania. This organisation has managed to bring profits from the process of selling African blackwood, to woodwind instrument makers in the UK, back to the community. Simultaneously the numbers of trees have increased as a result of this responsible manner of harvesting.

Another example includes a cooperative in the Brazilian state of Acre where sustainable practices have ensured the local communities enjoy greater involvement and increased income from merchants requesting FSC^®-certified lumber².

^{2 – fsc.org – Celebrating success: Stories of FSC certification, Green Ink Ltd} 

Universal Paper and Plastics has taken action and recently aligned with the vision of the FSC^® by becoming FSC^® chain-of-custody certified which means that our paper products are all FSC^® certified and come from responsible sources along the supply chain.

You will find the FSC^® logo on our packaging indicating the type of certification (i.e. paper, packaging, etc.) as well as our unique licence code.  This can be referenced checked on the FSC^® website (www.fsc.org).

Alternatively our FSC^® chain-of-custody certificate for UPM can be viewed by clicking here.