Defining FSC product groups

FSC product groups are the basic unit in the FSC chain of custody standart. An FSC product group is a product or line of products whics shares the same set of input materials in approximately the same proportions.

Companies need to list all the FSC product groups they produce with a detailed description of the materials in each product group.

Examples of FSC product groups :
• a line of pine fencing
• a line of glue laminated lumber
• a line of yellow balau window frames
• a line of multiple layer flooring
• a line of oriented strand board (OSB)
• a single paper item or quality
• a line of spruce sawn timber
• a set of garden furniture (one table and four chairs)

Specific requirements for product groups

Accepted
• Products made with a mixture of components or species.
• Several product lines having the same species mixture, quality and value in one FSC product group.

Not Accepted
• Distinct product lines (different species, quality and or value) with one FSC product group.
• Exchanging species of different quality and or value within a FSC product line. These need to be classed as separate FSC product groups.

Example 1.
An FSC product group could consist of a set of garden furniture (a table and 4 chairs).
• The chair legs could be made of eucalyptus and the chair seat made of teak.
• However, the chair legs must always be eucalyptus and the chair seat must always be teak (the same component of each table / chair must always be the same species, quality and or value).

Example 2.
Two garden chair lines made with FSC certified eucalyptus and teak.
• One FSC product group would be the line of eucalyptus garden char.
• The second FSC product group would be the line of teak garden chairs.
• However, an FSC product group could not be a line of teak garden chairs whic is then interchanged with eucalyptus (cannot exchange species).
• Similarly, the same grade of teak must always be used in the FSC product group. A higher or lower grade of teak cannot be substituted.

Example 3.
In a paper mill, the same machine is producing two different kinds in alternating squences of a few hours. One paper contains 5% fiber from fresh timber and 95% from post-consumer paper. The other kind of paper contains 20% fiber from fresh timber and 80% from post-consumer material.
• There are two products of different quality, so there are two FSC product groups, one for each paper type.

Example 4.
A bed made of fiberboard with an FSC certified veneer face. The fiberboard component is not FSC certified.
• The product group would consist of the whole product (bed) including all the components.