New standard to increase FSC national forest management standards globally

As of 1 April 2009, FSC will only endorse national and regional forest stewardship standards if they are first registered with the Policy and Standards Unit and follow the requirements of the new standard. The FSC Board of Directors approved “FSC-STD-60-006 Process requirements for the development and maintenance of Forest Stewardship Standards" at their 50^th meeting.

Until now, FSC has required that only FSC accredited National Initiatives can develop and submit a national standard to FSC for approval. However, many were submitted without an accredited National Initiative in the country, causing considerable delays in the development and approval of national standards.

With the approval of FSC-STD-60-006, there is now the possibility to allow national and regional standards to be developed and approved by FSC without the need to accredit an NI.

In order to register a Forest Stewardship Standard, a proposal and work plan must be submitted to the FSC Policy and Standards Unit.  This applies whether the process is new or has been running for some time; whether or not there is an accredited NI working in the country.

Where an accredited National Initiative exists, the Standards Development Group may be a function of the National Initiative. Where there is no accredited National Initiative, FSC-STD-60-006 specifies how a Standards Development Group needs to be structured in order to register its process.

All national or regional Forest Stewardship Standards submitted to FSC shall, with immediate effect, only receive FSC approval if it is:

1. registered by FSC Policy and Standards Unit;
2. developed in accordance with requirements specified in the new standard;
3. complies with the requirements of all FSC documents related to the structure and content of FSC Forest Stewardship Standards.

This new standard replaces all previous requirements as set out in the NI Manual relating to the development of national standards and will greatly enhance the quality of national standards and efficiency of their production.

To assist those who wish to work on national and regional standards, FSC has produced “FSC-GUI-60-004 (1-0) Draft 1.0 EN FSC Forest Stewardship Standards: structure, content and suggested indicators”, which accompanies FSC-STD-60-006. The template provides suggested or 'generic' indicators and guidance notes for Standards Development Groups and certification bodies.

If you are developing a national or regional standard, please contact Richard Robertson, Forest Stewardship Standards Manager.

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