CERTIFICATION UPDATE

Certification landscape in time of Corona

Andy Grundy, Senior Certification Manager (Western Europe), Soil Association Certification Ltd – Forestry (SACL)

This last year has evolved our language, from ‘furlough’ to the creepy ‘legacy hand’ (which takes my minds’ eye to 70s Hammer horror movies!) Not as scary but a horror nonetheless, the certification world has some new terms, audits can now be remote, hybrid, stage 1, stage 2…. with a new risk assessment process determining which. FSC & PEFC ‘Covid derogations’ have enabled us to continue auditing, but in a typically bureaucratic and complex fashion they have added layers of extra work for certification bodies and companies alike.

SACL have been lucky enough to continue our growth over the last year, but have had to recruit over and above that to manage the extra ‘Covid’ burden and maintain our clients audit schedules, something the schemes have not compromised on. We now work with over 3700 clients in 66 countries and certify over 25m hectares of forest with over 40 staff.

For FM certificate holders, the last year has seen the Covid-delayed FSC pesticide policies ‘environmental and social risk assessments’ (ESRAs) introduction. The successor to the derogation system, we see these as an improvement on the old system, but as ever, they involve more work in the first instance. FSC UK have provided a useful resource for forest managers on their website*.

Certification is an imperfect system, often criticised, but it’s the best we have for now. To address the climate and biodiversity emergency, moving to a demonstrably transparent and sustainable management of natural resources is essential. The surge of interest in ‘nature-based solutions’ so exciting for the land-based sector in the UK is best demonstrated by the rapid growth in the Woodland Carbon Code. As a validator/ verifier to the scheme, we’ve experienced this trend first hand; it is quite staggering and is allied to interest in other methodologies for capturing the ecosystem service provision of sustainable land management. The opportunity of directing private finance into afforestation, habitat restoration and regenerative agriculture will require extensive collaboration and resilient, robust verification by organisations such as ourselves. Time for us all in the sector to step up and make some real dynamic change! Look out for our upcoming training courses for WCC project developers later in the year.

As auditors we cannot consult for our clients, but the clarification of standards (translating ‘standard speak’ into plain English or Spanish, or Romanian, Russian etc etc..) is our USP, putting the time into our clients to make certification work for them. Sign up to our newsletter for ongoing updates/news/training opportunities * www.fsc-uk.org/en-uk/businessarea/fsc-certificate-types/forestmanagement-fm-certification/ fsc-pesticides-policy

www.soilassociation.org/ certification/forestry/

CERTIFICATION UPDATES

PEFC Chain of Custody 2020 Standard roll out

This has been delayed somewhat by a European Accreditation Body process, but we hope to achieve accreditation from UKAS soon, and will be contacting clients to arrange transition by 14 February 2022. The main changes will be the introduction of product codes as mandatory; the credit control system becoming a system in its own right, along with multisite cross-site credit. The Due Diligence System requirements have been strengthened with a new definition of controversial sources and improved risk indicators. There is a new claim “100 % PEFC Origin” for material coming from a PEFC certified forest.

FSC Chain of Custody with new social requirements

will see the introduction of new core labour (workers rights) requirements in the new V3-1 COC Standard. The actual transition period is not currently clear, as it may be delayed, but Certificate Holders will need to assess themselves against the FSC requirements and submit details to their certification body. UK-based organisations should not have a major issue in complying the requirements, but may have to update their policies and procedures and offer training. Soil Association will be sending out guidance to clients in due course.

FSC launches new online FRM reporting

In Forest Management, FSC will be launching their online FM Reporting system in July 2021. Certification Bodies, including Soil Association, are currently testing the system, and it will radically alter the way data is collected and reported going forwards. This is parr of a huge push to digitalisation by FSC. PEFC are also planning and developing digital solutions and a streamlining of their data collection processes. Coming sooner is the new FSC FM Group Standard, whereby, amongst other changes it will be possible to include Contractors within a Group Scheme. FSC are planning to roll out training on this and more details can be found on their website.