The date for mandatory compliance with the Forest Stewardship Council‘s (FSC) Controlled Wood standards has been put back by a year to allow for further revisions to be made.

The standards, designed to help wood product manufacturers who are unable to source 100% of their timber supply from fully FSC-certified sources, will now be obligatory for new certificate holders from January 1, 2007.

Proposed revisions to the standards, which also helps companies and forest managers avoid unacceptable or controversial sources of timber, include creating a “Forest Risk Register” to identify high or low risk forests and the development of FSC accreditation to ensure the Controlled Wood concept is implemented consistently and effectively.

FSC’s technical working group said concerns about the standards were made worse by a lack of clarity in implementation, with some stakeholders saying the requirements were too flexible and others describing them as onerous.

The group also felt stakeholder consultation during the development of the original Controlled Wood standard had been “inadequate” and proper time was now needed for discussion before revisions are agreed by FSC’s board of directors in June.