There was widespread opposition to the scheme to replace the current paper-based system, which the FSC said had weaknesses and loopholes that needed to be rectified. The trade in the UK complained there had been insufficient consultation and some industry bodies advised members not to participate.
After three years in the pipeline the FSC International Board meeting in Vancouver confirmed it would continue to develop the OCP, but said alternative mechanisms would be acceptable if they met its chain of custody requirements.
Confor, which led an international coalition to lobby against the compulsory scheme, said it saw the decision as effectively making the OCP a voluntary scheme.
“To implement OCP universally was simply the wrong solution to the wrong problem,” said Confor technical adviser Andrew Heald. “This is welcome news. We all agree there are real concerns in high risk parts of the world.”
The changes have been discussed by the UK Timber Trade Federation’s environmental committee. A spokesman said: “There is most likely going to be a change of stance.”
The TTF was among the bodies that advised members not to participate until the concept had been further refined and opened to more consultation. In addition to the administrative workload, there were fears about the confidentiality of sensitive business information between buyer and supplier being held on a central database.
The FSC said the online system was necessary to fill a gap in which “the precise volumes of FSC certified forest products traded are not being compared between trading parties”.
“We have evidence this loophole is used intentionally and we need to close it,” the FSC board said.
However, the board said that the OCP was only “one potentially effective instrument” to address the problem and “recognised that other existing and future systems may serve the same purpose”.
The FSC is to continue to develop OCP, and will further investigate both the fraud and storage of commercially sensitive information.
