This meeting taking place right after the public announcement demonstrates that FSC is an important partner for the state forestry service in Ukraine. FSC is instrumental for the State Forestry Agency's commitment to sustainable forestry practices as it provides an internationally-recognized standard for responsible forest management.
FSC made it clear that as organization, it can function under various models and has no opinion whatsoever of this future direction in Ukraine’s governance. However, FSC also wants to support continuity of activities for its certificate holders of forest management units. Therefore, FSC requested that the state authorities assure a smooth transition to avoid any disruption to supply chains of FSC certificate holders.
FSC stands by its certificate holders, its values, and the integrity of the system, no matter what operational model the government may choose to take. As organization, FSC remains outside of politics and has shown to function under various models in countries across the world.
FSC Ukraine will continue to work with stakeholders, government, certification bodies and certificate holders to further its positive impact on Ukrainian forestry sector and protect forests for people.
The meeting is organized in the context of FSC International’s’ leadership visit to Ukraine.