The terms defined in FSC-STD-20-011 and FSC-STD-40-004 apply. The following terms are introduced by this Advice Note and are put in italics throughout the document:
Contracting organization: Individual, company or other legal entity contracting a contractor for the production or processing of an FSC certified product under an outsourcing agreement.
NOTE: The contracting organization may or may not be an FSC certified CoC organization. Part C of this Advice Note is structured according to the FSC certified status of the contracting organization (see Part C, Table 1).
Contractor: Individual, company or other legal entity contracted by a contracting organization for the production or processing of an FSC certified product under an outsourcing agreement.
NOTE: In the context of this Advice Note, the contractor is an FSC certified organization (see Part C, Table 1).
FSC certified CoC organization: Individual, company or other legal entity holding a valid FSC Chain of Custody certificate which confirms that appropriate procedures are in place for the production, processing or trade of a specific product – or that FSC certified CoC contractors are used for this purpose – that allow the organization to sell, provide or promote the product with FSC claims.
Outsourcing agreement: A written agreement between a contracting organization and a contractor about the service of producing or processing an FSC certified product or material, where the contracting organization retains control of and responsibility for the purchasing of input material from the (billing) supplier and for the sale of the output product to the customer. Input material may be shipped from the contracting organization or from the (delivering) supplier to the contractor and the output product may be returned or shipped from the contractor to the contracting organization or to the contracting organization’s customer.
Supplier (billing): FSC certified CoC organization selling material with FSC claims to the contracting organization.
Supplier (delivering): FSC certified CoC organization delivering the material to the contractor and selling the material with FSC claims to the billing supplier or to the contracting organization.
Background
This directive deals with the implications for FSC certified CoC organizations, either functioning as or making use of FSC certified CoC contractors. In particular, clarification is provided on the following issues:
under which conditions contract work for an FSC certified product can be provided for non-FSC certified CoC contracting organizations;
what the benefits and implications are for FSC certified CoC contracting organizations that use FSC certified CoC contractors.
The FSC Standard for Chain of Custody Certification (FSC-STD-40-004) requires organizations that take legal ownership of materials and want to