Assurance Services International (ASI) has suspended the Certification Association "Russian Register" (RR) for the scope FSC chain of custody in India. The suspension will be in force for a maximum of six months.
The suspension is due to a serious breach of Accreditation Requirements which consisted of not ensuring clear impartiality of Certification Activities based on section 21, Table 1, item 10 b) as per the Accreditation Procedure (ASI-PRO-20-101). The relevant finding was raised during an unannounced FSC chain of custody compliance assessment in India.
During the suspension period of maximum six months, the certification body shall not enter into new agreements for certification or perform initial certification services within the scope of the suspension. However, the certification body shall continue to conduct surveillance audits for existing clients during the period of suspension.
Russian Register currently manages 215 out of around 1400 FSC chain of custody certificates in India.
Read more about the impact of the suspension on certification body and certificate holders here.