GERMANY – On July 24 the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) confirmed it had closed its Polish national office with immediate effect, following a suspension of the national office in December last year (2014).

Existing Polish FSC certificates are not affected by this development in any way. All existing certificates remain valid, and audits for certification by certification bodies will continue as usual.

The closure comes after issues that caused the office to be suspended in December 2014, remained unresolved. FSC Poland’s Board of Directors could not formally revise and implement the statutes of FSC Poland to fully adopt the three-chamber governance structure as required by FSC International. The three-chamber governance structure forms a core value of FSC and is essential to ensure the voices of stakeholders representing environmental, social and economic interests are heard. All FSC offices around the world are required to implement this three chamber structure. The Board of FSC Poland was not able to implement this, under the current Polish statutes.

A recent meeting between FSC International’s senior management and FSC Poland’s Board of Directors resulted in an acknowledgement of the fact that the problems had not been ad-dressed, and could not be addressed without extensive consultation with FSC Poland’s membership. “As this consultation would cause further substantial delays, and it is unlikely that it would lead to compliance with FSC’s requirements, it was decided to close the Polish national office with immediate effect,” said FSC Director General, Kim Carstensen.

Mr. Carstensen said FSC International recognized Poland’s importance in the forestry industry and would therefore appoint an interim representative of FSC in Poland as soon as possible, to ensure continued presence in Poland. This interim representative, who would work under an agreed Terms of Reference for FSC International, will help to develop the basis for a renewed and more permanent national representation of FSC in Poland, amongst other activities, by identifying and developing a chamber-balanced advisory committee for FSC in Poland and a formal and registered standard development group. The representative will also engage in dialogue with the State Forest Administration in Poland. It is expected that before the end of this year, a permanent FSC Poland national representative will be established.