On May 18, 2022, an online presentation of the new Russian system of voluntary forest certification \"Forest Standard\" took place.\u00a0The developers spoke about the principles of its work, and some Russian representatives of business, science, NGOs and Russian government agencies expressed their support for the system.<\/p>\n
We remind you that\u00a0FSC broke relations with Russia and Belarus in April.<\/p>\n
GWMI\u00a0publishes the translation (from Russian) of the press release resulted from this event:<\/p>\n
''The Forest Standard system is based on internationally recognized requirements, relies on experienced auditors and retains all the elements of transparency that are well known to businesses that previously worked according to FSC standards, which now suspended its activities in Russia.\u00a0The Forest Standard system is an understandable tool to preserve the environmental and social achievements of FSC in the Russian forest (for example, loggers voluntarily conserve 2.9 million hectares of intact forest areas, provide the local population with firewood, etc.), as well as an effective tool for business that does is not going to abandon its commitments to sustainable development.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOur moral responsibility is to make the FSC standard work even in the situation of suspension of certificates in Russia and exit of the system from the country.\u00a0Let's work as if nothing has changed - both in relation to forest management and supply chains, and we will control the quality of the work of auditors,\" Nikolay Shmatkov, General Director of Responsible Forest Management LLC, which developed the Forest Standard system, urged.<\/em><\/p>\n In his presentation, he said that the \"Forest Standard\" prevents greenwashing, in contrast to the corporate internal certification systems that some companies are now creating.\u00a0Separately, he stressed that certification under the new system would not become burdensome, incl.\u00a0from a financial point of view, for companies familiar with FSC.<\/em><\/p>\n X5 Group, which developed detailed sustainability recommendations for its suppliers a few years ago, plans to add Forest Standard to the list of certificates recommended for partners.\u00a0Maria Podkopayeva, acting\u00a0Sustainability Director X5 Group said: \u201cIt is important for us, as before, to prevent the disruption of a responsible supply chain and to maintain all the principles that we followed.\u00a0We will continue to develop and update our sustainability recommendations for partners, and we plan to include Forest Standard in the list of certification systems we recognize after passing the registration procedure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \"Opticom\" will use the \"Forest Standard\" instead of FSC as a tool to track the sustainability of the origin of goods, and will recommend to its customers, incl.\u00a0corporate clients who have introduced a Green Office policy.\u00a0Anna Vasilyeva, Head of Sustainability Department at Opticom JSC, said: \u201cAfter the cessation of FSC operations in Russia, we first tried to request FSC forest management certificates from suppliers, that is, to go up the chain, but this is a huge job for which there are no resources.\u00a0Therefore, we see in the \"Forest Standard\" a necessary tool, without which all responsible businesses were left without after the departure of FSC.\u00a0We plan to include the \"Forest Benchmark\" in the requirements for the sustainability of supply chains.\u00a0This will help Opticom and our partners continue their work in the field of sustainable development, which we have been engaged in for 12 years.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Syktyvkar Tissue Group, a manufacturer of sanitary and hygienic products made from pulp and waste paper, which previously produced all its products, including the Veiro brand, as FSC-certified, confirmed its readiness to undergo Forest Standard certification and supply products from responsible sources to the market, about Victoria Mironova, STG senior brand manager, said this in her speech.<\/em><\/p>\n Alexander Voropaev from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) noted that before supporting a particular certification, the organization analyzes it according to an internal methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of certification.\u00a0He also spoke about the experience of national and international certification systems accumulated around the world and noted that the \"Forest Standard\" has every chance to earn trust and develop.<\/em><\/p>\n Kirill Verevochkin, General Director of ASP LLC, Head of GREENindustry, supported the goal of the Forest Standard - to preserve what FSC has managed to achieve in Russia.\u00a0He called for joining the creation of a strong brand and, starting from the domestic market, expand internationally.<\/em><\/p>\n Natalya Trushevskaya, CEO of the Forest Certification certification body, said that the company supports the Forest Standard, has signed an accreditation agreement and is ready to conduct audits and issue certificates for the new system.<\/em><\/p>\n At the end of the online presentation, Nikolai Shmatkov urged companies to keep the requirements for responsible origin in their policies, request the Forest Standard certificate from suppliers and noted that the team of the new certification system, which, by the way, had been developing FSC in Russia for many years, is open to dialogue and joint constructive work with various parties - the public, environmental NGOs, government authorities, business and the press.''<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On May 18, 2022, an online presentation of the new Russian system of voluntary forest certification “Forest Standard” took place.\u00a0The developers spoke about the principles of its work, and some Russian representatives of business, science, NGOs and Russian government agencies … Continue reading