FSC Controlled Wood
FSC has strict requirements to control the non-certified material in FSC-Mixed Sources products. The non-certified material must comply with FSC Controlled Wood standards and be independently verified before it is mixed with certified material.
Besides addressing international concerns on illegal logging, FSC Controlled Wood also includes a balanced consideration of key social and environmental issues. It ensures a minimum performance level on the ground.
This is particularly important in countries where forest related legislation and governance are weak, where compliance with legality can still happen with socially and environmentally unacceptable practices, such as forest conversion or violation of indigenous peoples’ rights.
The purpose of Controlled Wood is to support the production of “FSC Mixed Sources” labeled products and increase availability of FSC certified products. It is not intended to create a parallel market with lower standards than FSC’s Principles and Criteria. In fact, FSC Controlled Wood far exceeds the standards of other certification systems with regard to environmental and social criteria for non-certified material.
FSC Controlled Wood certification
Fact Sheet on FSC Controlled Wood: avoiding environmentally and socially damaging wood (English/Spanish)
Please read the FAQ’s below and should you have any further questions you should contact your national FSC representative.
Frequently asked questions
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Why did FSC introduce Controlled Wood into its system?
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Despite continued and sustained growth of the FSC market share, some shortages still remain in the supply of FSC material. To allow manufacturers to provide FSC labeled products, the ‘FSC Mixed Sources’ label was introduced to allow manufacturing companies, printers, publishers and traders to mix FSC certified material with non-certified material.
The non-certified portion must comply with the FSC Controlled Wood standards to avoid timber and non-timber products produced in socially and environmentally damaging ways. FSC labeled products demonstrate that the material originates from responsible forest management practices that benefit people and the environment. -
What social and environmental requirements does Controlled Wood prescribe?
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Certification according to FSC Controlled Wood standards ensures a minimum performance level on the ground and includes a balanced consideration of social and environmental issues. Amongst others, Controlled Wood avoids material that is harvested:
- Illegally
- In violation of traditional and civil rights
- In forests in which High Conservation Value are threatened by management activities
- From areas being converted from forests and other wooded ecosystems to plantations or non-forest uses
- From forest areas in which genetically modified (GM) trees are planted
Whilst the Controlled Wood standard includes a balanced consideration of social and environmental issues, it does not compare to the strict requirements of the FSC Principles and Criteria. Find out more about these differences in the FSC Controlled Wood fact sheet (English/Spanish).
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Can Controlled Wood promote social and environmental change on the ground?
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Full certification to FSC’s internationally recognized standard, the Principles and Criteria, can be too large a step for some forest operations. In these cases Controlled Wood may serve as a first step and minimum performance for operations that would like to achieve FSC certification.
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How does FSC prevent the establishment of a parallel market for Control Wood?
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Forestry operations adopting FSC Controlled Wood standards can demonstrate their commitment in business-to-business communication through sales and shipping documentation only. FSC does not allow on-product labeling for controlled material or promotional claims by Controlled Wood certified operations. FSC certified manufacturers and traders must use certified material in order to label their final products with the FSC label.
