Updates published to clarify measures for organizations in Russia and Belarus

FSC has issued new updates to its normative framework related to FSC certificates from Russia and Belarus to address waiving Annual Administration fees and verification of material sold but not dispatched prior to suspension. Additionally, a new version of the FAQs is now available (see below). 

On 10 March 2022, FSC issued a series of normative instruments to implement measures related to FSC certificates in Russia and Belarus to disable sourcing material from these countries. To further support measures issued and queries around them, FSC has published two additional Advice Notes and the corresponding derogation as follows:

ADVICE-20-011-14 Verification audits for material sold but not dispatched prior to suspension

In general, products which have not yet left an organization's chain of custody system at the time the certificate is invalidated have lost their certified status. This Advice Note provides for the option of certificate holders prior to their suspension to undergo an extraordinary audit by which the certified and controlled product stock for delivery and related sales invoices can be inventoried. This will allow chain of custody certified buyers outside Russia, upon issuance of relevant verification statements by the certification body, to use relevant material as certified or controlled input in case that the dispatch of relevant invoiced stock is not possible before the suspension date.

FSC-DER-2022-002 Use of material purchased but not dispatched from Russia before suspension of supplier

This derogation complements the above Advice Note. It enables certificate holders outside of Russia that have purchased material with FSC claims from certificate holders in Russia before the supplier’s suspension to use relevant material as eligible according to the invoice claim despite its dispatch only after the supplier’s suspension. The prerequisite for doing so is that the supplier’s certification body must have provided a statement confirming that the material has been duly produced before the suspension.

ADVICE-20-005-01 Waiving of AAF for certificates in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine

As the suspension is not grounded in the actual performance of the individual certificate holders but due to matters beyond their control, FSC decided to waive the Annual Administration Fee (AAF) for suspended certificates in Russia from Q2/2022 onward. For Belarus, ASI’s decision to reduce the geographic scope of certification bodies in combination with FSC-ADV-20-001-12 make it necessary to terminate all certificates in the country by 8 April 2022. In order to limit the financial risk for certification bodies operating in Belarus, FSC decided to waive the AAF for Q2/2022.

FSC has further decided to also waive the AAF for all certificates in Ukraine as of Q2/2022, regardless of their certification status.

New Version of FAQs Available

A new version of the FAQs has been published and is available for download below.