Launch of FSA 3.0 postponed until Spring 2021
8th June 2020
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, SAI Platform has continued to its best ability to carry on business as usual. At the beginning of March, as the pandemic started to have a more global impact on day-to-day life, SAI Platform took the decision to review the timeline towards the delivery of FSA 3.0.
To date, the development of the next version of the Farm Sustainability Assessment continues to advance. In a recent FSA 3.0 Update Webinar on 28 April, Iver Drabæk (Nordzucker), chair of the FSA 3.0 Guidance Committee, gave assurance that the FSA Self-Assessment Questionnaire will be finalised soon. The development of new components of the FSA, such as the Priority Screening Tool and Outcome Measurement are also largely on track. However, some delays are expected in the overall development mainly due to travel restrictions and the reduced ability to road test the new FSA.
After recent discussions examining the current situation due to COVID-19, the FSA Steering Committee agreed to postpone the introduction of the new version. FSA 3.0 will now be released in mid-April 2021. This new release date will also trigger the 18-month transition period in which FSA Letters of Attestation can still be issued against Version 2.1 as well as the transition period for schemes with FSA benchmark equivalence.
