FSC to deeply research on certified African Teak

 Monday, July 10, 2023

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), in association with Assurance Services International (ASI) are about to launch a transaction verification (TV) loop. It is basically based on the FSC-certified chains of Afrormosia, majorly known as African Teak.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) lists Afrormosia as an endangered African tree species, and it is prone to being logged illegally.

FSC and ASI have received concerns from a number of stakeholders about possible integrity risks in the FSC-certified Afrormosia supply chain. In response, this TV loop will examine trading patterns and the volume of timber that is harvested in FSC-certified forests and finally sold as finished products. Thus, all the actors in the supply chain, namely forest management companies, primary processors, secondary processors, brokers/ traders with and without physical possession are included in the scope of this TV loop.

For the period of January to December 2022, all 172 FSC certificate holders that contain Afrormosia (Pericopsis elata) in their certification scope are required to provide their transaction data, which includes certified sales and purchases. The TV loop covers all varieties of FSC-certified items made from afrormosia and includes certificate holders from all over the world. Investigations into forest inventory fraud at the logging operations of certificate holders are combined with this TV loop.

While Cameroon and the Republic of Congo are the primary logging sites, Europe and North America are the main consumer markets of FSC-certified Afrormosia products such as flooring, and furniture items like cabinets.

Tags: African tree species, Afrormosia, ASI, cabinets, CITES, finished products, flooring, forest management company, FSC, FSC certified chain, furniture, supply chain, transaction verification (TV) loop