FSC meets Dutch government procurement criteria

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme has been approved against the Dutch government’s timber procurement criteria.

The Dutch government established a public procurement policy for wood-based products in June, with the Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC) tasked with ensuring existing systems meet the new guidelines.

TPAC used three main areas to assess the standard: sustainable forest management; chain of custody and logo use; and development, application and management of certification systems.

FSC said it is the only wood certification system approved to the Dutch government’s procurement criteria at both international and national level, reflecting the "uniqueness of the FSC standards framework among wood certification systems". FSC’s approval is valid for five years until December 2013.

TPAC added a full reassessment will take place towards the end of the five-year period, and it will be revised if FSC changes its standard, or changes are made to the Dutch procurement criteria for timber. "Serious flaws" in the implementation of the standard will also trigger a reassessment.