SBP Appoints ASI as Accreditation Body

The Sustainable Biomass Partnership (SBP) and Accreditation Services International (ASI) have today announced that SBP has appointed ASI as an accreditation body for the SBP certification scheme. The agreement between ASI and SBP enhances the integrity of the scheme through introducing another level of independent, third-party oversight at an important point in its development.

Carsten Huljus, Chief Executive Officer of SBP, commented: “In the interests of getting the SBP certification scheme to market in a timely fashion, SBP undertook the approvals role. It was always the intention that, in time, that role would be managed by an external accreditation service provider. The agreement with ASI marks a positive next step in the development of the SBP certification scheme”.

During the transition period, which runs from 2 August 2016 to 31 December 2017, existing SBP-approved Certification Bodies (CBs) will be required to transition to ASI accreditation. More on what that means for SBP-approved CBs and SBP Certificate Holders, that is, certified Biomass Producers and biomass traders, is available on the SBP website (www.sustainablebiomasspartnership.org/sbp-framework/asi-qa).

ASI Managing Director, Guntars Lagūns, emphasised: “ASI has long-standing experience in wood fiber commodities and we are looking forward to using our expertise and capacity to support the development and integrity of the SBP certification scheme”.

SBP is a unique certification scheme designed for woody biomass, mostly in the form of wood pellets and wood chips, used in industrial, large-scale energy production. The SBP Framework consists of a set of standards and processes allowing companies in the biomass sector to demonstrate compliance with regulatory, including sustainability, requirements.

ASI is the sole accreditation body for sector-specific certification scheme owners that develop multi-stakeholder standards to address pressing environmental, social and/or economic issues, such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).