Updated Standard for Ukraine Improves Health and Safety in Areas Affected by Military Operations

The ongoing war in Ukraine has contaminated certified forests with explosive objects. As a result, substantial areas have had to be excised from the scope of certification.  

To achieve this goal, the current Forest Stewardship Standard (FSS) for Ukraine has been updated (FSC-STD-UKR-01.1-2024) to include criteria for excising contaminated areas as well as specific, nationally adapted indicators and verifiers. Those requirements are based on the scenario presented in Clause 2.2 of the FSC Policy on the Excision of Areas from the Scope of Certification.  

After the initial registration of the process by the Performance and Standards Unit of FSC (PSU) in March 2023, the Standard Development Group developed an updated draft in consultation with forestry authorities, the Ministry of Defense, the State Emergency Service, and other relevant bodies. The Policy Steering Group approved the updated FSS in June 2024. 

“Including these requirements to remove certain areas from the Standard is absolutely vital,” said Yurii Nestoriak, member of the Standard Development Group in Ukraine and, representative of the State Specialized Forest Enterprise Forest of Ukraine. “The amended Standard will protect the health and safety of forestry workers and members of the general public and will also safeguard environmental values.”  

The updated standard becomes effective on 23 September 2024. 

For any queries on the standard, please contact FSC Country Requirements Team by emailing to country_requirements@fsc.org or Pavlo Kravets (FSC Ukraine National Representative): p.kravets@ua.fsc.org 

The FSS for Ukraine (English version) can be consulted in the FSC Document Centre.  

A translated (into Ukrainian language) version will be available on FSC Ukraine website in due course. Visit FSC Ukraine’s Newsroom for more related news.