The ultimate deadline for full implementation has not been altered, and the system will thus still be mandatory for full use by January 2022.
Introduction of an extra testing period and iterative improvement cycles
As announced in October 2020, the new digital audit reporting templates for forest management was due to be mandatory from January 1st, 2021. This timeline has been postponed until August 1st, 2021.
FSC has decided to take advantage of the adjustments to the implementation timelines to introduce an iterative process of continuous improvements during the first half of 2021.
This means that FSC for the first time will introduce a mandatory testing and feedback cycle for a new digital solution. This newly introduced step means that each certification body must plan and test the digital audit report template and accompanying platform. Testing must be performed by each certification body to an extent, which is representative of their portfolio of forest management certificates.
FSC believes that while this adjustment introduces delays in the initial implementation of the new solution, it will provide big gains in the longer-term usability and effectiveness of the platform. This without compromising the deadline for full implementation of the digital audit reports for forest management. It is the hope that this new iterative approach to implementation of radical changes in the FSC system can set precedence for similar processes in the future.
Focus on already available language versions
To further accommodate the capacity constraints of certification bodies, FSC has decided to focus testing and implementation in 2021 on the nine languages already available in the solution.
The nine languages (English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian and Simplified Chinese) encompass the majority of FSC forest management certificates.
FSC will during 2021 work to provide a solution for other languages currently not covered by translation. Full implementation for all languages applies from January 1st, 2022.
Overview of adjusted timelines
January – April 30th 2021: Mandatory testing of digital audit report templates for forest management audits.
Mandatory testing of the reporting portal including generation of public summary reports (March 1st – April 30th, 2021).
May 1st – July 31st 2021: FSC implement suggested improvements to the templates and workflow and makes revised templates available.
August 1st 2021: Mandatory use of FM digital audit report template for all audits conducted in English, Spanish, German, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian and Simplified Chinese.
FSC works further on the reporting portal in collaboration with CBs.
January 1st 2022: Mandatory use of FM digital audit report template in all languages.
Mandatory use of all modules of the FSC digital Audit reporting system, automated public summary creation and templates.
The adjusted timelines as well as further information on requirements for implementation can be found in the advice note FSC-ADVICE-20-007-20 available in the FSC-DIR-20-007, issued and circulated to the certification body community on December 7th, 2020.