Re-publication of the FSC Regulatory Module

Background

The separate addenda contain the regulatory requirements that support FSC certificate holders in aligning their practices with Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 (EUDR) requirements. The re-publication of the FSC Regulatory Module coincides with the publication of the revised certification body requirements, now ensuring that certification requirements are separated from certification body requirements. It also aligns the standards structure as foreseen in ISO standards, to facilitate the review process that is currently ongoing with the German National Accreditation Body “DAkkS”.

New addenda

The requirements contained in the FSC Regulatory Module are complementary to existing FSC certification and accreditation requirements for forest management, chain of custody, project certification and controlled wood. For example, the CoC-specific certification requirements of the Regulatory Module are added to a new normative document with the code FSC-STD-40-004r and the CoC-specific accreditation requirements are added to an addendum with the code FSC-STD-20-011r.

Main changes

No content changes were made to the FSC Regulatory Module except for small clarifying additions to 3 addenda related to Controlled Forest Management (FSC-STD-30-010r) and Chain of Custody (FSC-STD-40-004r, FSC-STD-40-006r):

• The Controlled Forest Management claim was included in these addenda 
• The Annex 3 of FSC-STD-30-010r clarifies that simplified risk assessments can be used by Controlled Forest Management certificate holders.

These changes were included to provide clarity on the application of the FSC Regulatory Module.  

Transition timelines

The new addenda are published on 1 April 2025. The FSC Regulatory Module will become effective on 1 July 2025. The old version of the FSC Regulatory Module will remain valid during the transition timeline, which will end on 31 December 2026. During the transition period both the old version and new addenda are valid.