The National Standards Accreditation Committee for the FSC Board of Directors has delivered a positive accreditation decision for one new FSC regional forest stewardship standard - the Russian National FSC Standard.
The National Standards Accreditation Committee approved the report submitted by the Policy and Standards Program (PSP). This standard is approved but subject to conditions to be fulfilled within the timelines specified in the Report to the satisfaction of the FSC Executive Director. Since no preconditions were raised, the standard comes into effect as of 11th November 2008.
According to the accreditation requirements of FSC, certification assessments within the geographical scope of FSC accredited standards will have to ensure that forest operations are evaluated against the requirements of these new standards. Additional requirements may be evaluated by the certification body, with the agreement of the applicant for certification. Any conflicts between national or regional forest stewardship standards and the requirements of the certification body shall be evaluated for purposes of certification on a case by case basis by the FSC Secretariat in consultation with the affected parties.
If certificates have already been issued within the geographical scope of FSC approved standards, the relevant national or regional forest stewardship standard takes precedence over any locally adapted generic standard previously used by the certification bodies in that nation or region and certificate holders have a maximum of twelve (12) months in which to conform fully with, the new forest stewardship standard. In relation to the standards approval by FSC for Russia, certified forest enterprises in the region will have one year to comply with the new regional standards.
The Standard is a public document, available on request from the FSC Working Group in Russia or the FSC Policy and Standards Program. For further information, please contact Richard Robertson by emailing national.indicators@fsc.org or phone +44 (0)2081239723 .FSC
