Chain of custody management company Independent Forestry (Indfor) has called on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to look into why its FSC group forest management scheme was temporarily suspended by certification body, the Soil Association’s Woodmark.
Woodmark suspended Indfor’s certificate on October 26, citing the latter’s failure to close out a corrective action originally issued in May 2004 relating to the need for the group to demonstrate commitment to the FSC principles/UKWAS standard.
Chain of custody was broken for about three weeks before Indfor agreed to implement the corrective action and the suspension was lifted.
Indfor managing director David Ogg said the reason the certificate was suspended was because the word UKWAS – UK Woodland Assurance Scheme – had been left off the declarations of intent of 43 of his 360 members.
He added: “There is no requirement in the FSC rules that statements of intent should make reference to UKWAS and I think this is a gross overreaction by the Soil Association.”
As a result of the suspension and to protect his members’ interests, Mr Ogg said he had formed a new company – TimberCheck (Forestry Certification) Ltd – to apply to become a certification body.
Kevin Jones, a Woodmark manager, said Indfor had been repeatedly asked to comply with the corrective action.
He said: “It was only when the suspension was in place that any action happened. It was entirely avoidable.”
Mr Jones said Indfor needed to ensure the supply chain knew that timber produced by scheme members during the suspension did not carry FSC certification.
