The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), whose green certification mark appears on billions of dollars worth of wood products worldwide, will vote next week on implementing new traceability measures amid growing allegations of widespread fraud in its supply chains.

The Bonn-based organization markets itself as “the world’s most trusted mark for sustainable forestry,” with its tree-tick logo appearing on everything from furniture to toilet paper as a guarantee that products come from responsibly managed forests. However, forestry experts and former insiders are raising serious questions about the system’s integrity.

Phil Guillery, who served as FSC’s integrity director for a decade until 2021, recently claimed that “20-30% of claims in the system were false” during his tenure, alleging that illegal or unsustainably harvested timber was being fraudulently passed off as FSC-certified. Even more concerning, a current senior FSC official told environmental news site Mongabay that Guillery’s estimate may actually be too low.

The FSC has strongly disputed these allegations, calling them “unsubstantiated” and based on “outdated information that does not reflect the system today.” The organization emphasized that “integrity is central to FSC’s mission” and that it takes fraud allegations seriously. The upcoming vote on new traceability rules represents a critical moment for the certification body as it attempts to address mounting concerns about its ability to prevent bad actors from exploiting gaps in its oversight system.