FSC International approved Guangxi and Shandong FSC Controlled Wood risk assessment reports in August 2018. Risk designations under the 5 categories shall apply to all companies sourcing controlled wood from these two province/regions. If the risk designation is a specified risk, the company shall refer to the control measures listed in the reports.
FSC China national risk assessment proposal was registered with FSC international on 17 March 2016. The project has since gone through extensive research, public consultations and supplier chain verifications. With the national commercial logging ban on natural forests put into effect by the end of 2017, wood supply within China mainly comes from plantations. The reason to choose Guangxi and Shandong is that these two provinces own the largest areas of eucalyptus and poplar plantations: Guangxi has the largest plantation area and stands out as the No.1 provider of timber in China (more than 1/3 of domestic wood). Shandong is one of the largest wood-based panel and veneer production centres in China with the largest composite board capacity (20%).
These two risk assessment reports are expected to help companies save cost and incentivize them to source wood materials from these two places as controlled wood. In particular, for companies sourcing controlled wood from these two places and exporting products to Europe market, the risk assessment could be used to facilitate the establishment of their due diligence system in compliance with EUTR. In addition, for companies sourcing from provinces other than these two, the NRAs for Guangxi and Shandong can serve as a reference document for the development of an extended company risk assessment.