Certification or other third-party verified schemes referred to in the first indent of the second paragraph of Article 6(1)(b) and in Article 6(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 may be taken into account in the risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures where they meet the following criteria:
they have established and made available for third-party use a publicly available system of requirements, which system shall at the least include all relevant requirements of the applicable legislation;
they specify that appropriate checks, including field-visits, are made by a third party at regular intervals no longer than 12 months to verify that the applicable legislation is complied with;
they include means, verified by a third party, to trace timber harvested in accordance with applicable legislation, and timber products derived from such timber, at any point in the supply chain before such timber or timber products are placed on the market;
they include controls, verified by a third party, to ensure that timber or timber products of unknown origin, or timber or timber products which have not been harvested in accordance with applicable legislation, do not enter the supply chain.