Consequences in the event of false FSC®-statements

Incorrect

An incorrect claim occurs when a certified product is sold with an incorrect claim.

For example: Your purchase invoice says FSC Mix 70% and your sales invoice says FSC 100%.

False

An false claim occurs when a product is wrongfully labelled or sold as FSC-certified.

For example: On your purchase invoice the product does not carry an FSC statement but on your sales invoice it says FSC Mix 70%.
It is also a false statement if your website falsely claims that a product is FSC certified.

If an false claim is identified, you must follow the usual procedure for non-conforming products. In case of non-conforming claims, additional measures apply.

False claims

If a product is found to be wrongfully labelled or sold as FSC, an false claim has been made.

For example:

• You sell 500 flyers as FSC Mix Credit. However, your purchasing records show that the paper used to produce the flyers was not purchased FSC certified.
• In your ERP system, a certain article number is always marked FSC 100%. You have recently purchased this item PEFC certified.

Consequences

For each false claim (incorrect or false), the procedure for non-conforming products has to be carried out. In addition, financial compensation is required for false statements and false statements may lead to a temporary exclusion from FSC certification.

Compensation is determined by FSC International and is based on:

• The market value of the relevant products sold with a false statement;
• The number of months in which the false statement was made;
• The annual sales of the certificate holder. 

For example:

• A company with annual sales of $1.1 million made a month of unlawful statements for $6577 worth of products. This company must buy an equal amount of FSC-certified products as compensation. If this is not possible, the company must pay $ 5760 to FSC International, to be calculated by FSC.

• A company with an annual turnover of $23,717 has made unlawful statements for products worth $23,717 over a 12-month period. This company must still purchase the same amount of FSC certified products. If this is not possible, the company must pay $ 31,680 according to a calculation determined by FSC or be excluded from the FSC system for 24 months.