Serious shortcomings in forest auditing
Improvements promised as Forest Stewardship steps in after East Coast chaos
Global attention is continuing to hone in on forestry practices on the East Coast, with a promise that audits around harvest practices will improve. Most timber exports carry a Forest Stewardship Council label, indicating the trees were harvested in a responsible way. The council is a globally acknowledged non-government body.
Following massive amounts of slash devastating East Coast farms and infrastructure after storms in 2017, 2018 and last year, the council has been interested in how its certification system was run on its behalf in New Zealand.
Late last year, an independent assessor from overseas auditors Audit Services International (ASI) visited Gisborne to check on the forests and speak to locals, after residents and green groups complained.
ASI investigated the auditing practices of Societe Generale de Surveillance and Preferred by Nature.
The result was a damning report that found serious shortcomings in their procedures on the East Coast.
In a statement, Forest Stewardship Council said: “When it comes to the gravity of the findings, both certification bodies were issued four major non-conformities, just one shy of the threshold that could prompt ASI to consider a suspension.
“Instances of certification bodies receiving such a significant number of non-conformities are uncommon.
“We note that ASI assessed the auditing that has occurred to be of a quality where a suspension was not warranted.
“While we prefer no non-conformities to be served, we also find it positive that the number of non-conformities did not reach the level where a suspension could be considered.”
It said the certification bodies are now required to identify the root cause of the problems that led to the non-conformities and put measures in place to address these causes.
“Given the increased scrutiny the certification bodies will be under from ASI and the process that’s in place to ensure they address the root causes, we have full confidence that auditing practices will be brought into conformity — and if not, that the certification body will be suspended/terminated.
“Either way, auditing practices in the Gisborne region will improve.”
The Stewardship Council said it would be inviting ASI and its own auditors that operated in New Zealand to a “calibration meeting” to enable parties to exchange best practices for auditing in relation to topical and controversial issues.