FSC teak: what FSC, SVLK and the EUDR do and don't tell you

“Sustainable teak”, “responsibly sourced wood”, “legally imported”: teak garden furniture comes with plenty of fine words. But which ones mean something? This page sets the three systems you’ll come across with teak wood side by side: the FSC certification, Indonesia’s SVLK system with FLEGT licences, and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). And above all: how to check for yourself whether a claim holds up.

First, a point of language. “Durable” and “sustainable” are not the same thing. Timber specialists use durability for how long wood lasts: the Dutch timber information centre Centrum Hout puts teak in durability class 1 to 3, depending on where it grew (Centrum Hout, Dutch). In a sales text, “sustainable” usually says something about origin and forest management. This page is about the latter.

Three systems, three questions

System	What is it?	What does it say?	What doesn’t it say?
FSC (100%, Mix, Recycled)	Voluntary certification for responsible forest management, with a certified chain of custody through to the product	According to FSC, the wood comes from FSC-certified forest, controlled sources and/or recycled material, depending on the label	With FSC Recycled: not that the wood originally came from an FSC forest. And it doesn’t replace companies’ legal due diligence obligation under the EUDR
SVLK / FLEGT	Indonesia’s mandatory timber legality system; on that basis Indonesia issues FLEGT licences for exports to the EU	The timber was legally harvested and traded under Indonesian law	Under the EUDR, it does not count as proof that the wood is deforestation-free
EUDR	EU law setting out what companies must check before placing wood on the EU market	Companies must be able to show that their wood does not come from land deforested after 31 December 2020 and did not contribute to forest degradation	It is not a label on a product and gives you as a buyer no guarantee on paper

Sources for each row below.

FSC

FSC has two kinds of certification: for forest management, and for companies in the supply chain (chain of custody, CoC) (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). Only a company with an FSC chain of custody certificate may put the logo on a product (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). There are three labels (FSC UK):

• FSC 100%: all the forest-based material comes from FSC-certified forests.
• FSC Mix: material from FSC-certified forests, verified recycled material and/or controlled wood (wood not from FSC-certified forests, assessed as low risk of coming from unacceptable sources).
• FSC Recycled: all the forest-based material has been verified as 100% recycled.

With that chain of custody certification, FSC aims to ensure that wood carrying the logo really does come from FSC-certified sources (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). That’s why “made from FSC wood” in a sales text, without a logo and licence code, says less than a real FSC label.

FSC Netherlands also notes that part of the tropical wood in the Dutch garden sector does not yet come from certified forest, and calls on traders to buy more certified wood (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). So a label on FSC certified teak garden furniture can’t be taken for granted.

SVLK and FLEGT

Indonesia has a mandatory system for assuring the legality of timber, the SVLK. On that basis, on 15 November 2016, Indonesia became the first country in the world to issue FLEGT licences for timber exports to the EU; timber with such a licence automatically meets the requirements of the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which the EUDR replaces from 30 December 2026 (EEAS).

Under the new EUDR, that changes. Timber with a valid FLEGT licence then only counts as proof that it was legally produced, but not as proof that it is deforestation-free; the due diligence statement is still needed (Art. 10(3) and recital 81 of the EUDR, EUR-Lex).

In short: SVLK/FLEGT is about legal, FSC about responsibly managed, and the EUDR asks companies to show legal and deforestation-free.

EUDR

The EU regulation on deforestation-free products replaces the old EU Timber Regulation (EUTR). Companies that place wood, among other commodities, on the EU market or export it must be able to prove that it does not come from recently deforested land and has not contributed to forest degradation (European Commission). The cut-off date is 31 December 2020. For imported wooden furniture with different wooden components, the company must be able to identify all the plots the wood comes from (EC FAQ).

The EUDR applies to the EU market. In Great Britain the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR) applies instead (FSC UK).

After amendments to the regulation in December 2024 and December 2025, these dates apply (Art. 38, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2025/2650, EUR-Lex):

• 30 December 2026: all companies and traders, with one exception:
• 30 June 2027: sole traders and other micro and small companies (established by 31 December 2024) that are the first to place on the market a product that was not covered by the old timber regulation, such as wooden chairs and benches. Wooden tables and cabinets were listed in the annex of that old regulation (EUR-Lex), so 30 December 2026 applies to those as well.

The review report the Commission published in May 2026 proposed no further amendments to the regulation, so the dates stand (COM(2026) 191). For risk assessment, the EU classifies countries by risk; Myanmar is on the high-risk list (Implementing Regulation 2025/1093).

And importantly for anyone looking at labels: certification can help companies with their risk assessment, but they must still carry out due diligence themselves and remain responsible (EC FAQ). So an FSC label is not an automatic EUDR pass.

If you buy as a private individual in the EU for your own use, you have no obligations under the EUDR; they lie with the companies placing the wood on the market. If you import for your business yourself, you may count as an “operator” (EC FAQ). You can always ask your seller how they comply.

How to check an FSC claim

An FSC logo always consists of the FSC tree mark with ® and the letters FSC, the website fsc.org, the label title, a material specification and a licence code (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). You can check that code yourself:

1. Find the full logo. Without a licence code (for example FSC-C012345), it isn’t a full label (FSC Netherlands, Dutch).
2. Look up the licence code in the FSC certificate database at search.fsc.org. There you can see whether the company has a valid certificate (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). Small companies are sometimes certified through a group; they then share the group manager’s licence code, with their own suffix to the CoC code, such as SCS-COC-000652-SP.
3. Check claims without a logo with the FSC Claims Check, designed to find more information about an FSC claim you saw on a product, a website or in a shop.
4. Get it in writing. For FSC Recycled projects, the invoice must state per line which components carry the claim (FSC Netherlands, Dutch). For a garden set, ask too whether the FSC claim will be on your invoice.

And without a certificate? FSC Netherlands is clear about that: terms such as environmentally friendly, sustainable wood or recycled without the FSC label say nothing about origin or control (FSC Netherlands, Dutch); FSC UK likewise points out that general “recycled” claims require no verification (FSC UK). That doesn’t mean the wood is wrong; it means you can’t check it. Then ask for legality documents (such as a FLEGT licence for Indonesian timber) and what the seller does for the EUDR. How to judge the quality of the wood itself is covered in teak grades.

Reclaimed teak: a separate position

Reclaimed teak comes from old buildings and structures, not from today’s forests. Two things are worth knowing:

• FSC Recycled guarantees that the wood has been verified as genuinely reclaimed and had a previous use. It does not guarantee that the wood originally came from an FSC forest. For wood, at least 70% must generally be post-consumer material; the rest may be pre-consumer, such as offcuts (FSC UK, FSC UK labels).
• Under the EUDR, goods produced entirely from material that has completed its lifecycle and would otherwise have been discarded as waste fall outside the regulation. By-products of manufacturing do fall under it, as does new wood (EUR-Lex, Annex I, EC FAQ). So that can apply to a piece made of 100% reclaimed teak, but not to a table with a reclaimed top and new legs. An FSC Recycled label is an indication of this, not an automatic exemption: FSC also allows pre-consumer material.
• Second-hand furniture: since a delegated regulation of September 2026, used and second-hand wooden furniture and seats fall outside the EUDR (Delegated Regulation 2026/2102).

FSC recognises both recycled wood and certified virgin wood as playing a role in protecting forests (FSC UK). So there’s no simple “reclaimed is always better”. If you choose new plantation teak, FSC 100% or FSC Mix is the way to make responsible forest management verifiable; how plantation teak differs in quality is covered in teak grades. But note: “reclaimed” without a label is a sales claim, not a guarantee. More on the material itself in reclaimed teak.