Experts of the EBA discussed issues related to the FSC certification of the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”

03/ 02/ 2025

On January 30, Yurii Andriiv, Manager of the Committees of the European Business Association, joined the roundtable discussion Problems of FSC Certification at State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”: How to Avoid a Shutdown of the Woodworking and Furniture Industry? organized by the Wood Industry UA economic development platform and Member of Parliament Bohdan Kytsak. The EBA representative shared the efforts of the business community in relation to certification. Specifically, the EBA has repeatedly initiated discussions and highlighted the need to regulate the certification of all branches of the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” in accordance with the FSC national standard for forest management in Ukraine. To this end, the EBA held joint meetings with the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine, the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” and the State Enterprise Forestry Innovative Research Centre. As of December 11, 2024, according to information from the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” website, 95 out of 145 branches are certified under the FSC system. However, experts from the EBA believe that this is insufficient to supply all FSC-certified products to buyers, as the number of buyers demanding FSC-certified wood products increases each year. Furthermore, the volume of production is also growing, which requires additional FSC-certified wood. The domestic woodworking industry is focused on exporting products to European Union countries, where FSC certification of wood is mandatory. This years issue with FSC certification is particularly critical. After the reorganization of the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” all branches and structural divisions lost their FSC certificates. As a result, companies are unable to fulfill international contracts, and the state budget misses out on financial inflows. According to the EBAs member companies, certification should first focus on the most resource-rich regions, such as Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Volyn. The experts of the EBA also pointed out the necessity of complying with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and Council of May 31, 2023, on placing certain products on the EU market and exporting from the EU related to deforestation and forest degradation, and the repeal of Regulation (EU) No. 995/2010 (EUDR). Special attention needs to be given to the inability to generate geolocations for areas where timber was harvested. The event recording can be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/WQfSLJ7Azs0 The European Business Association thanks Member of Parliament Bohdan Kytsak and Wood Industry UA for the opportunity to discuss important business issues!

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On January 30, Yurii Andriiv, Manager of the Committees of the European Business Association, joined the roundtable discussion “Problems of FSC Certification at State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”: How to Avoid a Shutdown of the Woodworking and Furniture Industry?” organized by the Wood Industry UA economic development platform and Member of Parliament Bohdan Kytsak.

The EBA representative shared the efforts of the business community in relation to certification. Specifically, the EBA has repeatedly initiated discussions and highlighted the need to regulate the certification of all branches of the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” in accordance with the FSC national standard for forest management in Ukraine. To this end, the EBA held joint meetings with the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine, the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” and the State Enterprise “Forestry Innovative Research Centre.”

As of December 11, 2024, according to information from the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” website, 95 out of 145 branches are certified under the FSC system. However, experts from the EBA believe that this is insufficient to supply all FSC-certified products to buyers, as the number of buyers demanding FSC-certified wood products increases each year. Furthermore, the volume of production is also growing, which requires additional FSC-certified wood.

The domestic woodworking industry is focused on exporting products to European Union countries, where FSC certification of wood is mandatory. This year’s issue with FSC certification is particularly critical. After the reorganization of the State Specialized Forest Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” all branches and structural divisions lost their FSC certificates. As a result, companies are unable to fulfill international contracts, and the state budget misses out on financial inflows.

According to the EBA’s member companies, certification should first focus on the most resource-rich regions, such as Rivne, Zhytomyr, and Volyn.

The experts of the EBA also pointed out the necessity of complying with the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2023/1115 of the European Parliament and Council of May 31, 2023, on placing certain products on the EU market and exporting from the EU related to deforestation and forest degradation, and the repeal of Regulation (EU) No. 995/2010 (EUDR). Special attention needs to be given to the inability to generate geolocations for areas where timber was harvested.

The event recording can be viewed at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/WQfSLJ7Azs0

The European Business Association thanks Member of Parliament Bohdan Kytsak and Wood Industry UA for the opportunity to discuss important business issues!