Poland's Directorate General of the State Forests declared in September that the agency will not continue the certification of forest management in the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) system. The decision to resign from the certificate has already been made by 15 out of 17 regional directorates.
"This means that soon we will not be able to buy wood in Poland" - said Małgorzata Dobies-Turulska, president of Ikea Industry Polska, quoted by wnp.pl website. As an exception, Ikea can still purchase wood not certified by FSC - but only until the end of 2025.
Preliminary analyses by Ikea Industry show that suitable wood could be imported to Poland from Sweden and Germany - but even assuming that the raw material will be purchased at the same prices as locally sourced one, the need for transportation will increase the total production costs by up to several dozen percent, possibly making it unprofitable.
"We do not accept the thought that we would have to relocate our factories from Poland" - Dobies-Turulska continued. Ikea has 16 production plants in Poland, employing almost 10,000 people.
Andrzej Szelążek, one of regional directors of Poland's State Forests, spoke with dobre.pl website and explained that resignation from the FSC certificate resulted from the exclusion of the agency from the certification requirements developing process. He pointed out that the certification requirements are a part of the licence agreement, but their provisions "can be changed at any time by the FSC without annexing it, which in fact means that the FSC can freely shape its own procedures, and the licensee must agree to it".
Despite some FSC-related controversies uncovered by the Earthsight NGO, among others - the certificate remains world's most recognizable international raw wood certification system, theoretically ensuring that products come from well-managed forests. This FSC certification has been present in Poland for over 25 years - and so far Poland has been one of the world leaders in terms of supply chain certification.
While Poland effectively withdraws from FSC through the country's State Forests decision, over the last 12 months the area of European forests covered by this certification has significantly grown - including a 45% increase in Turkey and 35% increase in Spain - Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza reported.
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Source: wnp.pl, dobre.pl, Gazeta Wyborcza