The timber company has contracted US-based auditor Rainforest Alliance to undertake a certification pre-assessment this week and a public meeting was held in Launceston last night to explain the process.

It involves examining 401,500 hectares of Gunns owned or managed forest and plantations.

After this week's pre-assessment the company will receive guidance on whether to attempt the FSC certification or try for the lesser "controlled wood" stamp.

Rainforest Alliance senior vice- president Richard Donovan said the pre-assessment was the second of 10 steps towards full certification.

"It is a long road - in most cases for large operations such as Gunns, it takes multiple years," he said.

"If they do get certified, they have to go through it all again in five years, which includes auditing each year."

Gunns external affairs manager Frances Duffy said the FSC process was important for the company's future as the attitudes of international consumers towards wood supply changed.

She said the certification would mend rifts between the company and sections of the Tasmanian community.

But when pressed by Bass Greens MHA Kim Booth and another member of the audience last night whether Gunns would quell community concerns through support of a repeal of the Pulp Mill Assessment Act, relinquishment of granted permits and re-initiation of the pulp mill approval process, Ms Duffy said the timber company would not.

"We acknowledge that we didn't do a good job with community consultation, but we cannot open that process," she said.

"However, we want to engage with people about their concerns. The (Resource Planning and Development Commission) process may have stopped, but the conversation hasn't stopped."