The Policy and Standards Committee for the FSC Board of Directors has delivered a positive approval decision for one revised FSC regional forest stewardship standard: "Swedish FSC Standard for Forest Certification".
The Policy and Standards Committee approved the report submitted by the Policy and Standards Unit (PSU). The standard is approved as of 24th February 2010.
The standard will come into effect for all forest management certification in Sweden from 1st June 2010. The intervening 3 month period is in place for Certification Bodies to adapt their systems to the revised standard. The Certification Bodies are required to inform all of their clients in Sweden that they will be assessed against the revised standard from 1st June 2010.
Certificate holders and new applicants may opt to be audited against the revised standard from the approval date, but all assessments shall be against the revised standard from 1st June 2010.
This revised standard replaces what was the first national standard to be approved in the FSC system back in 1998. Bringing the standard into line with current FSC requirements has been a major task for FSC Sweden. Much criticism has been leveled at the old Swedish standard, which was written prior to the introduction of Principle 9 and the concept of High Conservation Value Forest.
The revised standard is now in compliance with current FSC requirements, and is a major achievement for FSC Sweden. Indicators for Small and Low Intensity Managed Forest have also been developed and are currently being assessed by the FSC Policy and Standards Unit.
The standard is a public document, available on request from the FSC Working Group in Sweden or the FSC Policy and Standards Unit.
For further information, please contact Richard Robertson by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..