SFI 2022 STANDARDS AND RULES REVISION PROCESS

The SFI standards revision process follows international standard development guides and is based on principles of stakeholder engagement, balanced representation, consensus, continual improvement and transparency. The SFI standards revision process is an opportunity to update the SFI Standards and Rules with the topics that matter globally using SFI-certified organizations as a driving force to address these important issues through responsible, science-based forest management.

WORKSHOPS

SFI’s mission is to advance sustainability through forest-focused collaborations. As part of the collaborative process, SFI invites everyone to participate in the SFI Standard Revision process.

These May/June webinars were opportunities to comment on proposed revisions and enhancements to the SFI standards and ran parallel to the second public comment period May 1 – June 30, 2020. All SFI standards and guidance documents are available for comment. All comments and discussion during the webinars were considered by the Task Groups.

These dedicated webinars focused on specific themes and requirements in the SFI Standards Revision Task Groups. Webinar recordings are available at the links below:

• Introduction of the New Draft Standards – Access the recording here
• Logger Training and Education – Access the recording here.
• French Translation – Introduction of the New Draft Standards – Access the recording here.
• Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation – Access the recording here.
• Conservation of Biological Diversity – Access the recording here.
• Chain of Custody, SFI Labels and Claims, and Controversial Sources – Access the recording here.
• Indigenous Perspective – Access the recording here.
• Urban Forestry – Access the recording here.
• Recap Webinar – Access the recordings here.
• Enhancements Update – Access the recording here.

TASK GROUPS

SFI Standards Revision Task Groups review all comments and develop the draft standards. The Task Groups are established for the duration of the standard revision until completion in 2021. There are three SFI Task Groups:

TASK GROUP RESPONSIBILITIES

Task Group members are expected to participate in the following tasks, under the direction of the respective Task Group Chairs:

• Review submitted comments from public comment periods and Standard Revision Workshops that correspond to each Task Group’s focus area.
• Prepare revised Standards text (first and subsequent drafts) for review by the SFI Resources Committee, incorporating their feedback as required.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

The standards revision process ensures credibility and transparency allowing everyone to participate. Broad involvement from the conservation community, Indigenous communities, forest products industry, brand owners, private forest landowners and public forest managers, government agencies, trade associations, landowner associations, academia and others is integral to the development of the next SFI standards. The online public comment period is part of this process.

There are two public comment periods. The first comment period on the 2015-2019 Standards and Rules ran from October 23 – November 22, 2019. The second comment period on the revised SFI standards runs for 60 days through May 1 – June 30, 2020. All SFI standards and guidance documents are available for comment.

About the SFI Task Groups
The SFI Standard Revision Task Groups will consider all feedback from the public comment periods and the SFI Standard Revision Workshops.

About the SFI Resources Committee
The SFI Resources Committee is required to consider all feedback from the public comment periods and workshops.

About the ERP
All comments are also reviewed by the SFI External Review Panel (ERP) who assesses how all comments have been addressed.

About the SFI Board
The SFI Board of Directors considers and approves the SFI standards.