FSC Stories from around the world
A Battle against Illegal Wood: ScanCom Group and FSC COC certification
Keeping illegal timber out of garden furniture lines is no easy job. However, ScanCom Group, one of the world's largest suppliers of outdoor furniture, has shown its commitment to achieve it. With six companies operating under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Principles and Criteria, ScanCom has enhanced its quality standard production system to avoid illegal wood and thus reduce the negative impact on tropical forests, their biodiversity and the livelihoods of the people which depend on them.
The FSC Chain of Custody (COC) system connects responsible forest management practices with consumers. It provides a consistent, international basis for claims about the sourcing of wood/fibre material and products. FSC COC certification is a requirement for labelling products with the FSC name or label.
Pressure from environmentalist groups questioning the legality of the wood ScanCom was buying, led ScanCom, in 1999, to become the first company to deliver FSC certified outdoor garden furniture from South East Asia to Europe. During the 2004 European garden furniture season, 63 percent of ScanCom's garden furniture was FSC certified.
There were several strong reasons for FSC certification, explains Le Thi Nhu Hoa, International Environment Manager, ScanCom Group. "We wanted to stop the use of illegal timber in the outdoor furniture industry, and bring credibility to our products through the FSC label. We were also looking for a difference in the market demand in comparison with non FSC certified products."
The commitment to FSC is strong within the 500-employee International Group. "We would not be able to supply some of our consumers if we could not offer FSC certified products," says Le Thi Nhu Hoa. In 2003, FSC certified product sales grew by 20 to 25 percent, although the average margins decreased due to production cost increases that could not be fully compensated with sales price increases. Reasons for the sales growth include market trends and the continuing growth of ScanCom in recent years.
FSC certification has assisted ScanCom to improve its performance and protect its market position. "In just six years, we have moved from being on the black list of environment entities to where we are now considered by many as the best case example. We are proud to be the worldwide leader in the wooden outdoor furniture industry using FSC certified wood, and are continually checking to keep illegal wood out of all the factories which supply us."
In Vietnam, ScanCom's 20 operations are certified under the FSC Group COC certification. An internal auditor team monitors the suppliers' systems every month to control and verify their compliance with the COC group requirements. To prevent illegal timber use in its products, ScanCom uses an evaluation program when buying wood to make sure the wood is legal.
The evaluation program consists of identifying the forest location, according to information from organizations working in the area, and investigating the legality of the logging and possible environmental conflicts in the concession area. When the internal team is not sure about the legality of this wood, they hire a third party auditor.
ScanCom provides timber to its contracted manufacturers to ensure no illegal timber can enter the product lines. If ScanCom is not able to provide the wood, the manufacturers purchase the timber themselves and ScanCom auditors check the wood and the wood origin for FSC timber documents. These documents include: invoices, sales contract, bill of landing, log lists, certificate of origin (if aplicable), harvest licenses and tax receipts for non-FSC and FSC timber. If the audit finds full compliance, the manufacturers are able to use the timber for ScanCom products.
ScanCom does not buy and does not let its contracted manufacturers buy wood from certain areas, including Sarawak, Malaysia (after 2001), Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia (after 2001) and Cambodia. The team of auditors ensures that illegal timber does not enter into ScanCom products.
The way of doing business at ScanCom Group changed with FSC certification. The company moved from unknown sourced timber to FSC certified material. "We are committed to increasing our capacity in FSC products," said Le Thi Nhu Hoa. Changes at ScanCom include the reinforcement of its social policies. Currently the company is applying ScanCom’s Social Accountability Program for its factories and contracted manufacturers.
Concern about illegal wood in the garden furniture sector is a current issue for the company. ScanCom, together with other suppliers, customers and organizations have focused their efforts over the last years to ensure their garden furniture collection is FSC certified.
"We need to ensure companies are supplying FSC material. The demand for FSC timber is rising and the number of FSC certified forests supplying wood species for garden furniture has not been growing at the same pace," says Le Thi Nhu Hoa. "This creates a difficult situation for customers when confronted with unfair competition. It is important for us that people are aware of this situation. We need to make sure FSC is fighting against trademark abuse."
The campaign to protect the credibility of the FSC trademark is on-going. In 2004, FSC implemented a special program for the garden furniture season to prevent fraudulent and misleading use of its trademarks. Committed organizations, including big retailers, non-governmental organizations and FSC certificate holders, participated in the program.
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