In October, FSC US will prepare a concept paper for the board of directors meeting to determine whether FSC US should change group Chain of Custody eligibility requirements.
In 2010, the Forest Stewardship Council International approved a group Chain of Custody certification system to allow small forest-product companies (those with sales less than $5 million) access to FSC certification. In June 2013, FSC US began reviewing the eligibility requirements for the group Chain of Custody certification after some stakeholders expressed concern that the group model may have insufficient oversight compared with individual certification. Loggers and logging industry representatives have also asked FSC to reconsider the sales cap and its effect on "small" companies in the logging sector.
More information and a timeline for review and development are available here.
