KPMG Forest Certification Services

The forest industry is confronted by intensifying pressure for environmental and social responsibility – and rigorous scrutiny of forest stewardship practices by a broad range of stakeholders: consumers, investors, environmentalists, government and the general public.

Demonstrating that an organization recognizes the diverse expectations of stakeholders and has adapted to meet these expectations is a significant challenge.

Certification of operations under the Forest Stewardship Council's® (FSC) Principles and Criteria provides a globally recognized method of demonstrating that an organization's forest management activities reflect the delicate balance between social, economic and environmental expectations.

KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. (FCSI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of KPMG LLP that is accredited to conduct forest management and chain of custody certification audits worldwide by Assurance Services International based on the FSC Standards and Procedures.

Our team of professional foresters, biologists, and environmental management systems assessors has been actively involved in the evolution of forest practices auditing and bring a wealth of auditing expertise and common sense to task when conducting assessments.

KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc. employs a range of services to lead businesses from the initial investigation of certification through to the final certification audit and subsequent annual monitoring. All of our services are designed to ensure that we maintain full independence throughout the process.

Businesses that invest in FSC certification expect their certification to provide a highly credible demonstration of their commitment to good forest stewardship. To this end, we employ an audit approach designed to maximize credibility while maintaining value for money. Our procedures are built upon our experience in forest practices auditing and we recognize that objectivity, integrity and local expertise are key elements of credibility.

KPMG helps forest owners, managers, and companies achieve the requirements for FSC certification. We have tested procedures and methodologies including:

• Pre-certification preparation: provide client with a detailed understanding of the requirements of the FSC standards.
• Pre-certification assessments: provide client with detailed information as to how their practices compare to FSC requirements.
• Accredited Forest management certification audits: assess the level of forest management of a particular forest area against the FSC standard, and certify those forests which meet or exceed that standard.
• Chain of custody certification audits: assess the adequacy of the controls used to ensure that certified products are properly identified, accounted, and isolated from non-certified products.

There are certain rights and duties that our clients must formally acknowledged for FSC certification to proceed. These rights and duties of FSC certificate holders are established and documented in a formal engagement letter signed by both KPMG and the applicant.

Specific rights of certificate holders include:

• The right to confidentiality of sensitive information.
• The right to promote their FSC certification in accordance with FSC trademark requirements.
• The right of appeal in relation to disputed audit findings.

Specific duties of certificate holders include:

• Maintaining the certification.
• Providing access to records, documents and facilities necessary for the completion of certification activities.
• Advising KPMG of changes to the certified systems.
• Using the FSC trademarks in accordance with FSC requirements.
• Making certain information regarding the FSC certification publicly available.
• Acceptance of the terms of the FSC License Agreement.

KPMG FCSI is funded by FSC certification services provided to its clients and fees are calculated on a project by project basis. Prior to initiating a certification, we assess the scope of the project and the expected amount of time required to complete it. We also assess the level of risk associated with the certification. Using this information we calculate fees based on an established daily rate times the number of days the project is expected to take. The resulting fee is agreed in advance before the project is initiated.

​Forest management shall respect all applicable laws of the country in which they occur, and international treaties and agreements to which the country is signatory, and comply with all FSC Principles and Criteria.

Further information about FSC can be found at https://info.fsc.org and all related FSC documents can also be accessed at https://fsc.org/en/document-centre.