Tuesday, 12 January 2016
FSC Labels – New wording or one label?

© FSC UK

As part of the current revision of the trademark standard for certificate holders, FSC is proposing two alternative options for changes to the on-product labels.

Through a consultative forum set up for the revision process, various models were consulted on in June 2015, with more than 200 participants joining in this consultation, 60 per cent being FSC certificate holders. The results indicated diverse views on the models, including whether changes to the label were required or not. 

As the results did not directly point towards or exclude any model, FSC decided to create a discussion paper, and further, in order to get extended input from stakeholders, presented two options with more detail. 

• Option A suggests replacing the current wording for the Mix label, in order to more accurately represent the meaning of the claim and the essence of material mixing allowed in the FSC system. The text would need to be concise enough to allow use within the limited space reserved for labelling, but precise enough not to mislead con-sumers. Several alternatives for wording are presented.

• Option B suggests using only one label for all materials eligible for labelling within the FSC system, i.e. replacing the current FSC 100%, FSC Mix and FSC Recycled. It is an attempt to significantly simplify labelling of FSC products. The on-product label would reflect the system as a whole rather than the particular material mix in the product. Information on eligibility criteria to use the label would be transmitted by other means, e.g. through websites, campaigns, etc. Also for this option several alternatives for wording are presented. 

FSC invites all stakeholders to provide comments on the options and suggestions for the wordings, together with the consultation of FSC-STD-50-001 V2-0 D1-0.  The consultation closes on 31st January 2016.

If you would like further information on the revision of this standard, please visit the consultation web page or contact the FSC UK office. If there is the demand, we are more than happy to host a webinar on this topic.

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