FSC is a global forest certification system established for forests and forest products; from the perspective of the WWF this voluntary mechanism can be regarded as one of the more interesting initiatives of the last decade to promote better forest management. while a number of alternative national and regional forest certification bodies also exist around the globe It has 10 Principles and associated Criteria (FSC P&C) that form the basis for all FSC forest management standards and certification. FSC International sets the framework for developing and maintaining international, national and sub-national standards. This is intended to ensure that the process for developing FSC policies and standards is transparent, independent and participatory. In February 2012 the membership approved the first major revision to the FSC P&C, in order to bring its certification up to date. The review and revision of the FSC P&C began in 2008 and gathered feedback from many FSC members and other stakeholders. This revision also marked the start of a process of developing baseline requirements for each of the revised Criteria; These requirements - called International Generic Indicators (IGIs) - are intended to ensure consistent application of the FSC P&C across all countries. Where national standards are not currently established, the IGIs will be used as interim standards. National Forest Stewardship Standard In addition to its global certification standard, FSC develops national standards in selected countries. These standards are closely aligned to the global certification standard and its criteria, but are adapted to local context conditions. Currently, so called National Forest Stewardship Standards exist for the following countries (sorted by first year of introduction): Forest management certification Forest management certification is a voluntary process for verifying responsible forest practices. An FSC-accredited certification body performs a forest inspection at the request of the forest owner or operator. Certificate holders are charged an annual fee to renew their accreditation, and continuous compliance is expected. The FSC P&C apply to all tropical, temperate and boreal forests and many to plantations and partially replanted forests. Though mainly designed for forest management for timber products, they are also largely relevant for non-timber products (e.g. Brazil nuts) and other environmental services such as clean water and air and carbon sequestration. Prior to the revision process which ended in February 2012, the FSC P&C were the following (not in priority order): The Revised P&C were approved in February 2012; the basic requirements are: The