Contact one or more FSC-approved certification bodies. The certification body will need some basic information about your organization to make a preliminary estimate of the cost and time required for certification. The certification body will provide you with information about FSC certification requirements. Select a cooperative certification body and sign an agreement with it to conduct a certification audit to evaluate your company's certification qualifications. The data collected during the audit process is the basis for the audit report. Certification The organization makes a certification decision based on this report. If the certification decision is positive, you will receive an FSC certificate. If the audit shows that your organization does not fully meet FSC's requirements, the certification body will conduct a further audit of your company after completing the recommended modifications to the certification report.

The validity period of the FSC certificate is five years. However, FSC-accredited certification bodies will conduct annual surveillance audits to verify whether your company continues to comply with FSC certification requirements.

FSC is an international organization that recognizes certification bodies to ensure the authenticity of certification bodies. A non-profit organization founded in Toronto, Canada in 1993. The founding conference was attended by 130 representatives from 25 countries and other broadly representative organizations such as forest worker organizations, social and indigenous organizations, the timber industry and international environmental organizations.