To become FSC certified, each company must have access to certified raw material, i.e. it must have certified suppliers. If existing suppliers are not FSC certified, a company seeking FSC certification has two choices. The first is to look for new certified suppliers, the second is to encourage existing suppliers to become FSC certified. If the company decides on the first option, new suppliers who are FSC certified can be searched in the FSC international database. This database is available at the link https://info.fsc.org/certificate.php and brings together all FSC certificate holders worldwide.
You can find out how to operate the database here.
The company must then describe procedures for handling certified raw materials, as required by the FSC standard (FSC-STD-40-004 v3-0). The purpose of the written procedures is to prevent certified raw materials from mixing with non-certified raw materials when receiving, storing, manufacturing or selling an FSC-certified product.
Employees should follow the company’s implemented FSC procedures. Therefore, training for key personnel is necessary. It is not necessary to train all staff. It is sufficient that the employees supervising each of the new operating procedures are trained. The aim of the training is to familiarise the company’s employees with the established requirements for certified production. During the training, employees should learn how to handle certified raw materials throughout the production process. This process starts with the ordering of certified raw material, its receipt, storage, implementation of certified production and the sale of the product.
Once the staff have been trained, the company is ready for the main certification stage, which is the passing of a certification audit, which is carried out by an accredited certification body. During the audit, the correctness of the established procedures is checked against the FSC-STD-40-004 v3-0 standard. During the audit, the auditor also verifies the employees’ knowledge of the established procedures.
After the audit, the certificate is issued for 5 years, but every year a follow-up audit is required, during which the company accounts for the annual balance sheet and shows how much FSC raw material was purchased and how much FSC-certified products were sold. As a result of the certification audit, the company receives an individual FSC certificate number, which must be used on sales invoices to confirm the sale of an FSC-certified product.
The Peterson Academy can help you to comprehensively prepare your company’s FSC implementation without burdening your staff. We offer turnkey solutions in the form of documented FSC operating procedures and staff training to ensure a positive FSC audit.
Write: biuro@onepeterson.pl Call: 722 005 933
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