WWF/World Bank Forest Certification Assessment Guide

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Forest Certification Assessment GuideCriterion 4 — Avoidance of unnecessary obstacles to tradeThe Global Forest Alliance partners regard the provisions set in the ISEAL code asan appropriate basis to avoid obstacles to trade (see also criterion 1), including therequirement to base national standards on international principles and criteria.Criterion 5 — Based on objective and measurable performancestandards that are adapted to local conditionsBackground and rationale: The Global Forest Alliance partners consider certification asa means to ensure that forest management achieves the level of performance requiredby the standard. This level has to be measured with clear indicators that allow arepeatable outcome and strive to reduce subjectivity of decision making.Although compliance with the standards requires certified operations to applyappropriate management systems, theGlobal Forest Alliance refers to performancestandards only as a basis for comparable andreliable conformity assessment.Given the widely differing conditions offorest management in terms of economic,social, and ecological circumstances,standards in this field have to be developedwith a view to adapt the requirements to thelocal conditions prevailing in the country orregions where they are applied. To complywith relevant WTO requirements for avoiding trade distortions caused bystandardization, standard-setting bodies must base the national or subnationalstandards on international principles and criteria for forest management. Appropriaterules are laid down in the ISEAL Code of Good Practice for Setting Social andEnvironmental Standards, and no further guidance is required for an acceptableadaptation process.© WWF-Canon / WWF-Switzerland/A. della BellaOver recent years, different sets of international principles and criteria have beenelaborated. Partly, development of these guidelines was initiated and carried out bycertification systems and for the purpose of certification. The Global Forest Alliancepartners acknowledge these international sets of principles and criteria as one way toallow access to the services of a certification scheme at a global scale and thusprevent negative trade impacts through exclusion of certain countries or regions.14
A Framework for Developing Credible CertificationRequirement a. The standard contains explicit performancerequirements, including chain of custody, ifrelevant.b. The standard is written in measurable terms, withguidance on interpretation if flexibility is required.c. International principles and criteria used as thebasis for development of national standardsinclude provisions for the operational level (forestmanagement unit).In case of internationally operating systems:d. Mechanisms and processes are in place tofacilitate the harmonization/equivalence ofnational standards or national schemes within theinternational system.e. Processes exist by which consistency betweennational standards can be soughtf. National standards are endorsed by theinternational system.GuidanceScope of assessmentAlthough the national standard may include requirementsfor the management systems in place, the Global ForestAlliance requirements should be translated intoperformance indicators that are applicable at the nationalor subnational level. Wording of the indicators shouldprevent ambiguities and potentially inconsistentinterpretation by avoiding terms such as “whereapplicable” or “where appropriate” without explanationsfor interpretation.Governance, standard setting15
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WWF/World Bank Forest Certification Assessment Guide

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