Mr Thwaites said FSC UK was interested in examining an option to revise the current auditing process, with practical measures to improve the workability of the UK Woodland Assurance Standard (UKWAS).
"The other two options potentially spell the end of UKWAS as we currently know it, which we believe to be a far-reaching and unnecessarily retrograde step," he said.
He agreed the report’s broad conclusions were a realistic assessment of the challenges facing the status quo but challenged the accuracy of some content and said it drew heavily on limited anecdotal evidence.
The report also did not acknowledge that FSC’s Online Claims Platform and International Generic Indicators were yet to be introduced, while the amount paid to FSC forest certification "hardly rose at all" in recent fee increases.
Mr Thwaites said UKFS was very robust as far as it goes but its guidelines far outweighed its actual requirements. "UKWAS requires actions that UKFS only recommends and, of course, compliance is independently audited," he said.
The report, "Forest Management Certification in the UK: Options for Improvement", was commissioned by Confor. It outlines three options: revising auditing processes and continue to meet FSC and/or PEFC requirements; developing a bespoke system of auditing built around the processes and systems of the regulatory authorities, but still meeting FSC and/or PEFC requirements; developing new systems and procedures which deliver sustainable forest management and meet the requirements of the market, government and society.
