FSC’s position on certification in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine

Last updated in April 2026

FSC remains deeply concerned about Russia’s attack on Ukraine and stands in solidarity with all victims of this violence. With full commitment to FSC’s mission and standards, and after a thorough analysis, all FSC certificates in Russia were terminated.  At the same time, FSC continues operating in Ukraine except in areas with ongoing armed conflict, because the safety of staff and field operators are a top priority.

Below you can find more details about decisions related to specific countries.

Russia

• FSC-certified material or controlled wood from Russia is banned from trading within FSC-certified supply chains until the military agression ends. Read the full statement here.
• All forest management certificates in Russia were terminated by the respective certification bodies. Read more
• FSC Russia and FSC International ended their partnership. Read more. 

Over the 20 years of operations in Russia, FSC has helped preserve 61 million hectares of well-managed forests, including 3.5 million hectares of high conservation value forests in Russia which comprise intact forest landscapes. These last large areas of primeval ecosystems in the Eurasian region are extremely important for climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation. We remain committed to our mission of keeping these forests alive and resilient for the future, and we hope to continue our work in partnership with FSC Russia as soon as it becomes possible again. The pre-war state of these valuable forests will provide a critical baseline to evaluate their responsible management during the absence of forest management certification. FSC will not accept the conversion of forests, especially those of High Conservation Values, which must remain intact.

FSC remains committed to continue engaging with FSC International members in Russia, forest owners and organizations that share its values, and hopes that maintaining dialogue with these stakeholders will facilitate the return of FSC certification to Russia. 

FSC acknowledges that the prolonged crisis affects supply chains and creates a risk of illegal Russian wood entering supply chains through third countries.  To address this risk to the integrity of FSC-certified supply chains, in 2023, FSC launched the Eurasia Integrity Workplan — the most comprehensive integrity initiative in FSC’s history. It includes transaction verification loops, wood sample testing, high-risk investigations, and calibration workshops for certification bodies. Right now, we are investigating supply chains involving over 800 certificate holders. At the same time, our assurance partner ASI has conducted field investigations in Kazakhstan. This has already led to two companies leaving FSC and another being blocked from the system.

Read more about the Eurasia Integrity Workplan here

For more details and clarity on FSC’s decision, please read this FAQ.

For technical updates to clarify measures in FSC requirements, visit this page. 

Ukraine

FSC remains determined to continue to support Ukrainian certificate holders, and allow certification bodies – the independent auditors of FSC certificate holders – to continue their work in areas not affected by war. Their work is facilitated, for example through remote audits and extending the time between audits to over a year, if required.

At the same time, FSC must continue to protect the integrity of the FSC system by reducing risks of forests not being managed according to FSC’s standards. In the invaded regions of Ukraine, government legislation cannot be enforced, and it is not safe for the auditors to carry out their work. Therefore Ukraine's national FSC standard excludes war zones and mined forest areas from management to ensure the safety of forest workers.

For more information please read the full article here.

For technical updates, please click here. 

Belarus

All certificates in Belarus were terminated as a result of a decision by Assurance Services International (ASI) to exclude the country from the scope of all certification bodies. This was due to the inability of FSC-accredited certification bodies to credibly assess conformance with certain FSC social requirements based on International Labour Organization (ILO). 

Furthermore, FSC was unable to bring the various interests to the table to develop and promote FSC as all independent environmental NGOs have been liquidated. The operations in Belarus will be reinstated once FSC has sufficient evidence that the fundamental values for FSC are in place and functioning again.

FSC is still committed to Belarus, its forests and people. We continue to hold dialogue and promote responsible forest management principles, even if members are now based abroad.

For more information, please visit this link. 

Decision-making process

The decisions were taken after a thorough analysis of the potential impact of withdrawal of FSC certification. We wanted to take wise action that can ensure continued responsible forest management in these countries.

Before we announced action related to our operations in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, we listened to civil society, companies and Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian FSC members who agreed that the war is contrary to the values that we stand for as FSC.

The decision was almost two weeks underway. This episode of Forest for the Future podcast dived into why it was such a difficult decision to make and what we expect the impact of it will be on both the people and forests; not only in the effected regions but also around the globe.