IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v90y2018icp160-166.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Shaping the implementation of the FSC standard: the case of auditors in Brazil

Author

Listed:
  • Piketty, Marie-Gabrielle
  • Garcia Drigo, Isabel

Abstract

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label is one of the most widely accepted standards aimed at assessing long-term sustainable forest management worldwide. Through audits, accredited certification bodies assess the level of conformity of a firm’s performance against the standard to grant or not the certificate on behalf of the FSC. In this paper, we assess the scope auditors have to shape the implementation of the FSC standard in Brazil. Our work is based on the analysis of certification bodies’ rules and of available public full assessment and annual audit reports covering the period 2009–2013, completed with interviews with key informants. We show that most indicators of the Brazilian FSC standard leave no scope for interpretation. However, firms are certified and re-certified with a significant number of minor non-conformance with social, legal and environmental indicators. Moreover, the gradual improvement of the performance of the firm cannot always be considered as final. We conclude that some indicators are too broad and need to be clarified, that the FSC should limit the number of minor non-conformance issues allowed and prohibit their recurrence. More systematic surveys could narrow possible interpretations by auditors and certification bodies.

Suggested Citation

  • Piketty, Marie-Gabrielle & Garcia Drigo, Isabel, 2018. "Shaping the implementation of the FSC standard: the case of auditors in Brazil," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 160-166.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:90:y:2018:i:c:p:160-166
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2018.02.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934117300953
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2018.02.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Overdevest, Christine & Rickenbach, Mark G., 2006. "Forest certification and institutional governance: An empirical study of forest stewardship council certificate holders in the United States," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 93-102, November.
    2. Tulaeva, Svetlana, 2013. "Institutional trust: The process of trust formation in Russian forest villages in accordance with the international system of forest certification," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 20-27.
    3. Galati, Antonino & Gianguzzi, Giuseppe & Tinervia, Salvatore & Crescimanno, Maria & La Mela Veca, Donato Salvatore, 2017. "Motivations, adoption and impact of voluntary environmental certification in the Italian Forest based industry: The case of the FSC standard," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 169-176.
    4. Newsom, Deanna & Bahn, Volker & Cashore, Benjamin, 2006. "Does forest certification matter? An analysis of operation-level changes required during the SmartWood certification process in the United States," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 197-208, December.
    5. van Kooten, G. Cornelis & Nelson, Harry W. & Vertinsky, Ilan, 2005. "Certification of sustainable forest management practices: a global perspective on why countries certify," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(6), pages 857-867, November.
    6. Lewis, Robin A. & Davis, Stacey R., 2015. "Forest certification, institutional capacity, and learning: An analysis of the impacts of the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 18-26.
    7. Tysiachniouk, Maria & McDermott, Constance L., 2016. "Certification with Russian characteristics: Implications for social and environmental equity," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 43-53.
    8. Pinto, Luís Fernando Guedes & McDermott, Constance, 2013. "Equity and forest certification — A case study in Brazil," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 23-29.
    9. Rafael, Gabriel C. & Fonseca, Alberto & Jacovine, Laércio Antônio Gonçalves, 2018. "Non-conformities to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards: Empirical evidence and implications for policy-making in Brazil," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 59-69.
    10. Cerutti, Paolo Omar & Tacconi, Luca & Nasi, Robert & Lescuyer, Guillaume, 2011. "Legal vs. certified timber: Preliminary impacts of forest certification in Cameroon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 184-190, March.
    11. Cashore, Benjamin & van Kooten, G. Cornelis & Vertinsky, Ilan & Auld, Graeme & Affolderbach, Julia, 2005. "Private or self-regulation? A comparative study of forest certification choices in Canada, the United States and Germany," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 53-69, January.
    12. Kalonga, Severin Kusonyola & Kulindwa, Kassim Athumani, 2017. "Does forest certification enhance livelihood conditions? Empirical evidence from forest management in Kilwa District, Tanzania," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 49-61.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Karsenty, Alain, 2019. "Certification of tropical forests: A private instrument of public interest? A focus on the Congo Basin," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    2. da Silva, Ramon Felipe Bicudo & Batistella, Mateus & Palmieri, Roberto & Dou, Yue & Millington, James D.A., 2019. "Eco-certification protocols as mechanisms to foster sustainable environmental practices in telecoupled systems," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 52-63.
    3. Halalisan, Florin & Romero, Claudia & Popa, Bogdan & Arana Landin, German & Talpa, Nicolae & ABRUDAN, Ioan Vasile, 2023. "Global assessment of FSC forest management certification auditing through analysis of accreditation reports," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    4. Hermudananto, & Romero, Claudia & Ruslandi, & Putz, Francis E., 2018. "Analysis of corrective action requests from Forest Stewardship Council audits of natural forest management in Indonesia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 28-37.
    5. Schilling-Vacaflor, Almut & Lenschow, Andrea & Challies, Edward & Cotta, Benedetta & Newig, Jens, 2021. "Contextualizing certification and auditing: Soy certification and access of local communities to land and water in Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hubert Paluš & Ján Parobek & Rastislav Šulek & Ján Lichý & Jaroslav Šálka, 2018. "Understanding Sustainable Forest Management Certification in Slovakia: Forest Owners’ Perception of Expectations, Benefits and Problems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.
    2. Jaung, Wanggi & Putzel, Louis & Bull, Gary Q. & Guariguata, Manuel R. & Sumaila, Ussif Rashid, 2016. "Estimating demand for certification of forest ecosystem services: A choice experiment with Forest Stewardship Council certificate holders," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(PA), pages 193-201.
    3. Louise Briec & Matthieu Mandard, 2016. "The Failure of Forest Certification. The FSC Certification in the Light of the Actor-Network Theory [L’échec de la certification forestière. Le cas de la certification FSC examiné au travers de la ," Post-Print halshs-01298087, HAL.
    4. Di Girolami, Erica & Kampen, Jarl & Arts, Bas, 2023. "Two systematic literature reviews of scientific research on the environmental impacts of forest certifications and community forest management at a global scale," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    5. Hermudananto, & Romero, Claudia & Ruslandi, & Putz, Francis E., 2018. "Analysis of corrective action requests from Forest Stewardship Council audits of natural forest management in Indonesia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 28-37.
    6. Jaung, Wanggi & Putzel, Louis & Bull, Gary Q. & Kozak, Robert & Markum,, 2016. "Certification of forest watershed services: A Q methodology analysis of opportunities and challenges in Lombok, Indonesia," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(PA), pages 51-59.
    7. Moeltner, Klaus & van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2003. "Voluntary Environmental Action and Export Destinations: The Case of Forest Certification," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 28(2), pages 1-14.
    8. Galati, Antonino & Gianguzzi, Giuseppe & Tinervia, Salvatore & Crescimanno, Maria & La Mela Veca, Donato Salvatore, 2017. "Motivations, adoption and impact of voluntary environmental certification in the Italian Forest based industry: The case of the FSC standard," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 169-176.
    9. Grace B. Villamor & Lisa Wallace, 2024. "Corporate social responsibility: Current state and future opportunities in the forest sector," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3194-3209, July.
    10. Jun-Yen Lee & Ching-Hsing Chang, 2019. "Efforts toward Creating a Sustainable Business Model: An Empirical Investigation of Small-Scale Certified Forestry Firms in Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-20, May.
    11. Victoria A. Maguire-Rajpaul & Vinesh M. Rajpaul & Constance L. McDermott & Luís Fernando Guedes Pinto, 2020. "Coffee certification in Brazil: compliance with social standards and its implications for social equity," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2015-2044, March.
    12. Lewis, Robin A. & Davis, Stacey R., 2015. "Forest certification, institutional capacity, and learning: An analysis of the impacts of the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 18-26.
    13. Cerutti, Paolo Omar & Tacconi, Luca & Nasi, Robert & Lescuyer, Guillaume, 2011. "Legal vs. certified timber: Preliminary impacts of forest certification in Cameroon," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 184-190, March.
    14. Guillaume Lescuyer & Raphaël Tsanga & Samir Nziengui & Eric Forni & Claudia Romero, 2021. "Influence of FSC certification on the governance of the logging sector in the Congo basin," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(3), pages 289-304, August.
    15. Pinto, Luís Fernando Guedes & McDermott, Constance, 2013. "Equity and forest certification — A case study in Brazil," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 23-29.
    16. A. Mikulková & M. Hájek & M. Štěpánková & M. Ševčík, 2015. "Forest certification as a tool to support sustainable development in forest management," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 61(8), pages 359-368.
    17. Jakub Michal & David Březina & Dalibor Šafařík & Václav Kupčák & Andrea Sujová & Jitka Fialová, 2019. "Analysis of Socioeconomic Impacts of the FSC and PEFC Certification Systems on Business Entities and Consumers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-17, July.
    18. Henry, Laura A. & Tysiachniouk, Maria, 2018. "The uneven response to global environmental governance: Russia's contentious politics of forest certification," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 97-105.
    19. Lemes, Pedro G. & Zanuncio, José C. & Jacovine, Laércio A.G. & Wilcken, Carlos F. & Lawson, Simon A., 2021. "Forest Stewardship Council and Responsible Wood certification in the integrated pest management in Australian forest plantations," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    20. Stephen Wyatt & Sara Teitelbaum, 2020. "Certifying a state forestry agency in Quebec: Complementarity and conflict around government responsibilities, indigenous rights, and certification of the state as forest manager," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 551-567, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:90:y:2018:i:c:p:160-166. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.