Updates

ASI suspends Soil Association Certification Limited for FSC COC and FSC FM/COC in Türkiye

13 March 2026

ASI suspended Soil Association Certification Limited (SA Cert) for Forest Stewardship Council®, for FSC COC and FSC FM/COC in Türkiye effective 13 March 2026.

This suspension decision follows an appeal process, through which the initial worldwide suspension issued on 19 November 2025 was modified to apply only to Türkiye.

The suspension is due to a breach of Section 18, clause 18.7 (Annex 1, Table 1, Item 11) of the ASI NA Accreditation Manual (ASI NA-MA-20-101): Negligent provision of false information or non-disclosure of information by a CAB relevant for an Assessment or Accreditation Decision concerning said CAB.

The six-month suspension period restarts from this new decision date and is valid until 13 September 2026.

Note on Compliance Timelines:

Specific FSC requirements (clause 1.1.3 of STD-20-001 V4-0 and INT-STD-20-001_28) exist for suspended CABs regarding certificate holders’ communications, certification transfers, and certification validity. For these specific FSC timelines, the initial decision date, 19 November 2025 shall be used to demonstrate compliance.

In case of questions on this, please contact the CAB at [email protected]

During the suspension period:
SA Cert shall in Türkiye:

  • Continue conducting surveillance audits necessary to maintain existing Certifications;
  •  Grant scope extension related to the addition of new suppliers or a new outsourcer;
  • Continue to perform recertification audits and generate certificates in the timelines required by FSC.
  • Continue addressing NCs raised by ASI NA within their specified timelines. Within the scope of the
    suspension:

SA Cert shall not in Türkiye only:

  • Issue any new initial accredited certification, unless the audit process (i.e., contract signed and
    agenda sent to the CH) started before the initial date of the Suspension, 19 November 2025;
  • Issue any scope extension that implies the addition of new sites and activities to the existing
    certification;
  • Enter into new agreements for Certification. Read more about the impact of suspensions on CABs
    and certificate holders here.
  • Certification activities in other countries are unaffected.

Read more about the impact of suspensions on CABs and certificate holders.