Any client or any other stakeholder (e.g., NGO, consumer and user associations, government agencies, etc.) may lodge a claim with AENOR, its delegations, or any of the companies certified by AENOR in relation to this certification. Complaints are initially received by anyone from Management or the centre, and are then forwarded to AENOR's Quality Department (Accreditation Department), which in turn registers them. Complaints can also be emailed directly to the AENOR Quality Department (calidad@aenor.com). From there, the Department, manager or centre assigned to resolve it will be contacted, and the originator. The Quality department will send an initial response to the claimant within two weeks from receipt of the complaint.
In collaboration with the Quality Department, and in accordance with said parties, the causes are analysed and, if applicable, immediate, corrective, preventive or improvement actions are carried out and recorded. The Quality Department will keep the claimant informed of the progress of the assessment of the complaint and send a response within three months of receipt of the complaint. If the claimant does not agree with the outcome of his/her claim, he/she may send a substantiated letter to the CEO of AENOR, who will give him/her a final reply.
Finally, if requested by the stakeholders, the names of the AENOR elements involved in the complaint resolution process will be provided. The claimant will also have the option to submit his/her claims to the dispute resolution process of the accreditation body if the problem is not resolved following the full application of AENOR's internal procedures. For these certifications, this body is ASI or, ultimately, FSC®.
FSC® Forest Management Certification is aimed at promoting sustainable management of forests in an environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable way in accordance with certain established standards.
This means that forest management plans are cost-effective, without compromising the sustainability of forest resources, the ecosystem or the population or other affected parties, contributing to the long-term benefits of ecosystems for local populations and society in general, and ensuring that all actions contribute to maintaining the biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes of forests.
The Chain of Custody (CoC) of forest products ensures the traceability of forest products from the forest to the consumer. It is the stage subsequent to the certification of sustainable forest management and is necessary to create a link between the raw material included in a forest product and its origin. The FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) is an independent, non-governmental, international and non-profit organisation created in 1993, with the aim of promoting environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management in forests all over the world. The FSC® has a two-fold aim: create a single mark, the FSC® trademark, to ensure the credibility of certification through global standards; and to accredit the bodies in charge of certification according to FSC® standards.
The FSC-STD-40-004 chain of custody standard has been reviewed and published by the Forest Stewardship Council ®. This standard has changed its version from v3-0 to v3-1, including, among others, the FSC® Core Labour Requirements. This is intended to ensure that the protection of workers' rights is firmly linked to a company's FSC® certificate and is guaranteed in all FSC® certified operations.
In addition, this review includes several explanatory notes (advice) and interpretations, published over the years, and an editorial review of the document. For more information, please click here.
Certification of the Chain of Custody is aimed at any entity, company or facility that produces, markets or manipulates forest products in its production process, including wood, paper, cork, bark, resins, and derivatives. It also covers foodstuffs obtained from certified forests (mushrooms, game, etc).
The FSC® Chain of Custody auditing process can be integrated with PEFC Chain of Custody . Additionally, they can be integrated with quality management system audits or environmental audits. When a company has these type of systems, it's possible that it already meets part of the requirements from the chain of custody and must only elaborate the necessary control procedures or modify those already in place so that they align with requirements.
Once the audit process has been successfully completed your organisation obtains:
The use of the mark FSC® should follow requirements set forth in FSC-STD-50-001.
FSC® Mark
AENOR is accredited by ASI (Assurance Services International) for the FSC® Chain of Custody certification for Forest Products and Forestry Management (accreditation ASI-ACC-046).This accreditation allows AENOR to certify the FCS® Chain of Custody and Forest Management worldwide (except Belarus for COC and GFS;GFS for China).
Access the list of Organisations with the FSC Chain of Custody certification.
Portugal