Code of Practice

1. INTRODUCTION
These Codes of Practice have been structured in accordance with the requirements of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) whose accreditation SGS South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (“Certification Body”) currently holds.

2. SCOPE
The Certification Body provides independent assessment and certification of forest management activities performed by organisations for conformance with the requirements of the FSC through its FSC-accredited QUALIFOR programme.

The Certification Body also provides assessment and certification of chains-of-custody to confirm that firms, companies or organisations ("Clients") are operating mechanisms by which sale to the customer of wood products from well-managed sources can be assured.

The Certification Body itself may in its absolute discretion, fulfil the services of the Certification Body by its own employees or by the Certification Body entrusting them to an SGS affiliated company or subcontractor (QUALIFOR Partner).

3. CONFIDENTIALITY
The Certification Body maintains confidentiality at all levels of its organisation concerning information obtained in the course of its business.  No information will be disclosed to any third party unless in response to legal process or required by the FSC, after providing the Client with a copy of such process or requirement.

4. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
A copy of the Management System Overview of the Certification Body, showing the responsibility and reporting structure of the organisation, and documentation identifying the legal status of the Certification Body are available on request.

5. REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
In order to obtain registration, the Client shall comply with the following procedures and rules:

1. the Client shall make available to the Certification Body all documents, samples of products, drawings, specifications and other information required by the Certification Body to complete the assessment programme and shall appoint a designated person who is authorised to maintain contact with the Certification Body;
2. the Certification Body, if not satisfied that all registration requirements are met, shall inform the Client of those aspects in which the application has failed;
3. when the Client can show that remedial action has been taken by it, within the time limit specified by the Certification Body, to meet all the requirements, the Certification Body will arrange, at additional cost to the Client, to repeat only the necessary parts of the assessment;
4. if the Client fails to take acceptable remedial action within the specified time limit it may be necessary for the Certification Body, at additional cost, to repeat the assessment in full;
5. identification of conformity shall refer only to the sites assessed as specified in the Certificate and Assessment Schedule or other attachments, which may accompany the Certificate.
6. the Client shall agree to pay all fees and costs as specified in the contract.
7. The Client does not use its product certification in such a manner as to bring the certification body into disrepute and does not make any statement regarding its product certification which the certification body may consider misleading or unauthorized;

6. APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATION
On receipt of a completed Questionnaire, a proposal shall be sent to the Client outlining the scope and costs of the services together with an Agreement to Proceed (Agreement to FM Pre-Assessment or FM Main Assessment or CoC Assessment). Once the Agreement is returned, the project will be allocated to an auditor who will be responsible for ensuring that the services are carried out in accordance with the procedures of the Certification Body.

The Client shall make no claim of conformity (or near conformity) with FSC requirements (e.g. the FSC Principles and Criteria, in the case of forest management certification) in the area included in the scope of the evaluation until and unless a certificate is awarded.

7. CERTIFICATION
The certification body shall have the right to delay or postpone its decision on certification in order to take proper account of new or additional information which has become available to the certification body and which has not already been considered in its evaluation report and which, in the opinion of the certification body, could affect the outcome of its evaluation.

When the main assessment report has been submitted to Peer Review and the Certification Body is satisfied that the Client meets all the registration requirements, it will inform the Client and issue a Certificate. The Certificate shall remain the property of the Certification Body and may only be copied or reproduced for the benefit of a third party if the word “copy” is marked thereon.

The Certificate will normally remain valid for a period of five (5) years unless surveillance reveals that the management system, products or manufacturing process of the Client no longer meet the FSC standards. The FSC retains the right to over-rule decisions of the Certification Body on the issue, suspension or withdrawal of a certificate.

8. PUBLIC INFORMATION
In order to comply with FSC standards for forest management, the Client shall make public a summary of the primary elements of the management plan and a summary of the results of monitoring indicators, as defined in the FSC Principles and Criteria 7.4 and 8.5. In addition, the Client shall agree to a summary of the main assessment and surveillance reports being made available to the public.

9. CERTIFICATION MARKS
Upon issue of a Certificate the Certification Body shall authorise the Client to use a designated certification mark and the FSC trademark.  A Client’s right to use any such mark shall be contingent on its obtaining and maintaining a valid Certificate in respect of the certified management system and/or products and of complying with the licence agreement relating thereto. The Client will comply with all the Certification Body’s and FSC’s conditions regarding claims, logos, certification marks and trademarks. No claim of conformity or near conformity with QUALIFOR or FSC requirements may be made in respect of sites undergoing assessment or sites not specified in the Certificate and Assessment Schedule or other attachments which may accompany the Certificate. Improper use of a certification mark shall be a non-conformance.

10. MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATE AND SURVEILLANCE
Periodic surveillances shall be carried out, as a minimum annually, and shall cover aspects of the management system, documentation, manufacturing and distributing processes and products at the discretion of the nominated auditor.  The Client shall give access to all sites or products for surveillance purposes whenever deemed necessary and the Certification Body shall reserve the right to make unannounced visits as required. FSC reserves the right to accompany Qualifor assessors on any client audit and access to confidential information will not be restricted. The Client shall be informed of the results of each surveillance visit.

The Client shall maintain a register recording all complaints from customers or other interested parties, and environment and safety-related incidents reported by an enforcing authority or users relating to those covered by the Certificate and make this available to the Certification Body on request.  The Certification Body retains the right to revise the requirements of certification at any time. The Client shall be granted a period of 12 months to implement any changes arising from amendments to the QUALIFOR programme, changes to the generic FSC requirements, or the publication of a national FSC standard.

11. CERTIFICATE RENEWAL
In order to renew its Certificate at the end of every five-year cycle, the Client shall be required to repeat the application procedure set out in Clause 6 and undergo a full re-evaluation. The Client will normally be informed of the requirement for Certificate renewal during the pre-renewal visit, which is the last surveillance visit of each cycle, but sole responsibility for timely filing the renewal application shall be with the Client.

12. EXTENSION OF CERTIFICATION
In order to extend the scope of a Certificate to cover additional sites or products, the Client will be required to complete a new Questionnaire. The application procedure outlined in Clause 6 will be followed and an assessment will be carried out on those areas not previously covered. The cost of extending the scope of registration will be based on the nature and programme of work.

In order to reduce the scope of the certificate, the Client must inform the Certification Body in writing of the reasons for the reduction. The Certification Body must be satisfied that the reduction in scope does not prejudice the remaining certification. An assessment may be carried out on the remaining areas.

Following a successful assessment an amended Assessment Schedule will be issued covering those aspects covered by the extended Certificate. Although the original Certificate will normally remain in force it may be necessary in some instances to issue a new Certificate.  In such cases, the Client must return the superseded Certificate to the Certification Body.

13. SYSTEM/PRODUCT MODIFICATION
The Client shall inform the Certification Body, in writing, of any intended modification to the management system, products or manufacturing process, which may affect compliance with the FSC standards.  The Certification Body will determine whether the notified changes require additional assessment.  Failure to notify the Certification Body of any intended modification may result in suspension of the Certificate.

14. PUBLICITY BY CLIENT
A Client may make reference in communication media that its management system or products have been certified and may apply the relevant certification mark to stationery and publicity materials relating to the scope of registration as provided in its licence agreement. The Client may not, however, apply such mark in relation to its products unless such products have been certified for product conformity.

In every case, the Client shall ensure that in its publications and advertising material no confusion arises between certified and non-certified products. The Client shall not make any claim that could mislead third parties to believe that certain products have been certified when, in fact, they have not.

15. MISUSE OF CERTIFICATE AND CERTIFICATION MARK
The Certification Body shall take suitable action, at the expense of the Client, to deal with incorrect or misleading references to certification or use of Certificates and certification marks. These include suspension or withdrawal of Certificate, legal action and/or publication of the transgression.

16. SUSPENSION OF CERTIFICATE
The Certification Body may suspend a Certificate for a limited period in cases such as the following:

1. if a Corrective Action Request has not been satisfactorily complied with within the designated time limit;
2. if a case of misuse as described in Clause 15 is not corrected by suitable retractions or other appropriate remedial measures by the Client;
3. if two similar Major Corrective Action Requests (CARs) are raised during the life of the certificate, or five new Majors are raised during a single surveillance visit;
4. if there has been any contravention of the Proposal, Application for Certification, General Conditions for Certification Services or Codes of Practice;
5. if products are being placed on the market in non-conforming condition; or
6. if there is a change in the Client’s management such that continued compliance with the Programme Requirements is uncertain.

On suspension of the certificate the Client shall immediately cease to make any use of any FSC trademarks, or to sell any products that the supplier has previously labelled or marked using the FSC trademarks, or to make any claims that imply that they comply with the requirements for certification.

Upon suspension or cancellation of certification, the client shall discontinue its use of all advertising matter that contains any reference thereto and returns any certification documents as required by the certification body;

The Certification Body will confirm in writing to the Client the suspension of a Certificate.  At the same time, the Certification Body shall indicate under which conditions the suspension will be removed. At the end of the suspension period, an investigation will be carried out to determine whether the indicated conditions for reinstating the Certificate have been fulfilled. On fulfilment of these conditions the suspension shall be lifted and the Client notified of the Certificate reinstatement. If the conditions are not fulfilled the Certificate shall be withdrawn.

All costs incurred by the Certification Body in suspending and reinstating a Certificate will be charged to the Client.

17. WITHDRAWAL OF CERTIFICATE
A Certificate may be withdrawn if (i) the Client takes inadequate measures in case of suspension or goes out of business; or (ii) the Client terminates its contract with the Certification Body.  In either case, the Certification Body has the right to withdraw the Certificate by informing the Client in writing. The Client may give notice of appeal (refer Clause 19).

In cases of withdrawal:

1. the Client must return all copies of the Certificate to the Certification Body;
2. no reimbursement of assessment fees shall be given, and
3. withdrawal of the Certificate shall be published by the Certification Body and notified to the appropriate accreditation body.
4. SGS reserves the right to initiate legal action if the certificate holder does not comply with all of the requirements of SGS South Africa.

On withdrawal of the certificate, the Client shall:

1. immediately cease to make any use of any FSC trademarks, or to sell any products that the supplier has previously labelled or marked using the FSC trademarks, or to make any claims that imply that they comply with the requirements for certification;
2. return the certificate to the certification body;
3. at its own expense remove all uses of FSC’s name, initials, logo, certification mark or trademarks from its products, documents, advertising or marketing materials;
4. cooperate with the certification body and with FSC in order to allow the certification body or FSC to confirm that these obligations have been met.

18. CANCELLATION OF CERTIFICATE
A Certificate will be cancelled if the Client advises the Certification Body in writing that it does not wish to renew the Certificate or no longer offers the products or the Client does not timely commence application for renewal.

In cases of cancellation no reimbursement of assessment fees shall be given and cancellation of the Certificate shall be published by the Certification Body and notified to the appropriate accreditation body, if any.

19. APPEALS
If, for any reason, notification is given which may result in a Certificate not being issued, suspended or being withdrawn, the Client has the right to appeal.

Notification of the intention to appeal must be made in writing and received by the Certification Body within seven days of receipt of notification of the non-issue, suspension or withdrawal of the Certificate.

An Appeals Form will be sent to the Client for completion and must be returned to the Certification Body within 14 days of receipt, supported by relevant facts and data for consideration during the Appeals Procedure.

All appeals are forwarded to the Certification Body and are put before a sub-committee of the Certification Council. The Certification Body shall be required to submit evidence to support its decision to withhold, suspend or withdraw the Certificate.

The decision of the sub-committee shall be final and binding on both the Client and the Certification Body. Once the decision regarding an appeal has been made, no counter-claim by either party in dispute can be made to amend or change this decision.

In instances where the appeal has been successful and the Certificate issued or reinstated, no claim can be made against the Certification Body for reimbursement of costs or any other losses incurred as a result of the withholding, suspension or withdrawal notification.

20. COMPLAINTS
If a Client has cause to complain regarding the conduct of employees of the Certification Body, the complaint shall be made in writing, without delay, and addressed to the QUALIFOR Programme Director. If the complaint is made against the QUALIFOR Programme Director, the letter of complaint shall be addressed to the SGS South Africa (Pty) Ltd Certification Division Manager.


THE CERTIFICATION BODY RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ADD TO, DELETE OR CHANGE THESE CODES OF PRACTICE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTIFICATION.
ALL SERVICES ARE PERFORMED ACCORDING TO THE GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR CERTIFICATION SERVICES.