This year, the format of communication between FSC Ukraine and certificate holders, proposed two years ago, was supported by more than 140 participants. Representatives of the State Enterprise "Forests of Ukraine", international FSC members, as well as representatives of certification bodies and ASI also took part in the meeting.
Both forest management and chain of custody FSC certificate holders learned the latest information on the current state of development of FSC certification in the world and Ukraine. The meeting participants focused on the information on the extension of the main interpretations and derogations of the provisions of the Policy responses to situation in Ukraine. Thanks to these FSC decisions, certification in Ukraine has been maintained, and certification procedures, including audits, can be carried out with deviations from certain rules without reducing the quality of certification and compromising the integrity of FSC system. Much attention was paid to the news about the approval by the PSG of "FSC criteria, indicators and verifiers for excision of areas contaminated by explosive objects from the scope of certification in accordance with FSC-POL-20-003 V 1-0 for Ukraine". Guided by the requirements of this document as an annex to the FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard for Ukraine, areas contaminated by unexploded ordnance may be excised from the scope of certification, while maintaining the FSC certified status on the rest of the certified forest area.
The updated FSC national standard for Ukraine will soon be published and the relevant communication with interested stakeholders will take place.
The discussion also focused on the requirements of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Approval of the FSC Aligned for EUDR package is important in the context of increasing the readiness of all chain of custody stakeholders, starting with the forest, to build mutual trust and responsibility. At the national level, achieving such goals requires revision of forestry legislation, strengthening law enforcement in the area of preventing deforestation and forest degradation, and improving a number of technical solutions, in particular, those related to electronic timber tracking and tracing.
“The persistent efforts of the FSC team to harmonize the requirements with the EUDR strengthen the competitive ability of Ukrainian certificate holders in the EU markets by demonstrating their contribution to preventing deforestation and forest degradation. Moreover, the new requirements for forestry enterprises affected by the armed conflict, focusing on the priorities of adapting the management system and forestry practices, will help reduce risks to life and health of, among others, employees, local communities, and auditors”, said Pavlo Kravets, FSC Ukraine Director.