Public consultations on the draft FSC criteria, indicators and verifiers for excision of areas from the scope of certification for Ukraine have been launched

The consequences of the armed conflict in Ukraine affect a part of FSC certified areas. Under these conditions, it is important to ensure protection and integrity of FSC certification system.

The Working Group on development and implementation of national forest certification standards for Ukraine (information about participants and regulations are available at https://ua.fsc.org/ua-uk/forest-management-certification) with the involvement of the expert – Dmytro Karabchuk, Forestry Project Coordinator of the NGO "ForestCom", developed a draft document "FSC criteria, indicators and verifiers for excision of areas from the scope of certification in accordance with FSC-POL-20-003 V 1-0", the application of which will allow to maintain forest certification in areas not affected by the armed conflict, minimizing risks and threats to its participants. The process of developing the document, supported by FSC at the international level, is open, democratic and, accordingly, involves a number of mandatory stages, one of which is public consultations.

Once the document is finalized, it will be included as an annex to the FSC National Forest Stewardship Standard of Ukraine (FSC-STD-UKR-01-2019 V 1-0).

Below two documents are presented:

- text of the draft 1 of FSC criteria, indicators and verifiers for excision of areas from the scope of certification in accordance with FSC-POL-20-003 V 1-0;

- explanatory note, instructions for submitting comments, observations, suggestions, and a corresponding table (comments form).

Please send your comments, observations, and suggestions on draft 1 within the specified period of public consultation to dmytro.karabchuk@gmail.com with a copy to info@fsc.org.ua. The results of the review of comments by the expert and members of the working group will be publicly available after the end of the consultation period.     

For additional information, please contact Dmytro Karabchuk at dmytro.karabchuk@gmail.com.

In order to raise awareness of the draft "FSC criteria, indicators and verifiers for excision of areas from the scope of certification in accordance with FSC-POL-20-003 V 1-0" and to receive constructive comments, observations and suggestions on it within the framework of public consultations, a webinar is scheduled for September 8, 2023, at 10 a.m. To participate in the webinar, please register at https://links.fsc.org.ua/webinar080923 by September 7, 2023. 

Explanatory note, instructions for submitting comments, observations, suggestions, and a corresponding table