Environmental
Independent verification that timber is obtained from legal and sustainable sources is being demanded not only by the ‘green’ lobby, but increasingly through government procurement requirements for major projects, especially those attracting public money.
The choice of materials for major construction projects is now influenced by environmental concerns – and if timber cannot demonstrate its undoubtedly excellent credentials – it will loose out in the market place.
Government Policy & Meeting Government Contractual Requirements:
All government departments and agencies must actively seek to buy timber and timber products from legal and sustainable sources.
Legal timber is the minimum standard condition of contract.
As can be seen form above, government and government influenced contracts for timber or timber products have a minimum specification requirement that the timber is legally logged and traded. Contractor are required to ensure that the organisation that felled the trees used to meet the contract had legal use rights to the forest, holds a register of all local and national laws and codes of practice relevant to forestry operations, complied with all local and national laws including environmental, labour and health & safety laws and paid all relevant loyalties and taxes.
Contractors must obtain documentary evidence that the timber is both legal and legally traded before delivery as the authority can demand to see this evidence for a period of up to six years after delivery. Additionally, the timber must be traceable from its source in the forest, through the supply chain and verified by a licensed independent third party audit organisation.
CPET - Central Point of Expertise on Timber
The Government has set up CPET (Central Point of Expertise on Timber) and is funded by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is operated by ProForest, an independent company with wide experience in responsible purchasing. The Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement's (CPET) provides detailed information and advice on how public sector buyers and their suppliers can meet the UK Government’s timber procurement policy requirements in practice. In addition, background information is available on how these practical solutions were developed, including the types of evidence that demonstrate legality and sustainability and the criteria for evaluating such evidence under the definitions of ‘category A’ or ‘category B’ criteria evidence.
“Category A” evidence is certification from a scheme that currently meets the UK Government’s requirements.
|
| Scheme | Legal (100% from legal sources) | Sustainable (>70% from sustainable sources) |
 | CSA Canadian Standards Association |
All certified products. |
Yes |
 | FSC Forest Stewardship Council |
All certified products. | Only products containing >70% certified or recycled raw materils |
 | MTCC Malaysian Timber Certification Council |
All certified products. |
No
|
 | PEFC Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification |
All certified products. | Only products containing >70% certified or recycled raw material. |
 | SFI Sustainable Forestry Initiative |
All certified products. | Only products containing >70% certified or recycled raw material*. |
“Category B” evidence is all forms of credible evidence other than certification schemes. There are two main types of Category B evidence:
- Evidence from programmes and initiatives other than recognised certification scheme.
- Ad hoc evidence provided by information such as audit statements, government documentation or supplier declarations.
There are three issues that determine the adequacy of category B evidence:
- The requirements for traceability from the forest source are met, represented by the evidence.
- The requirements for legality and/or sustainability at the forest source are met, represented by the evidence.
- The credibility of the evidence.
This type of evidence can vary greatly and needs to be judged on a case-by-case basis. The government recognised that it needed a framework for assessing which evidence can be accepted as delivering its timber policy.
TIF Responsible Purchasing Policy:
The Responsible Purchasing Policy is a toolkit to assist Agents, Importers and Merchants of timber and timber products manage their supply base and in doing so meet the requirements of many modern policies and guidelines within the timber industry today.
In particular, the Responsible Purchasing Policy has been developed to assist companies to show compliance with the Timber Trade Federation Code of Conduct and the UK Government Procurement Policy on Timber.
The Policy has been developed through extensive consultation with both the industry and external stakeholders (Government, ENGOs and Industry Consultants) to ensure that it can be readily assimilated into timber procurement operations.
The Responsible Purchasing Policy is not a certification scheme, but a tool to gather evidence for the legality and sustainability of non-certified timber products!
Forests Forever is the environmental voice of the timber industry and aims to promote the environmental benefits of timber as well as encourage environmentally responsible trading practices. It offers advice and information to the Government, other organisations and its Members on how to source timber and timber products responsibly.
The Forests Forever Campaign assesses companies applying for registration based on their level of commitment to an industry recognised policy and then grade them from levels A to E on compliance with the policy - where ‘A’ signifies a high level of activity in working towards policy objectives and ‘E’ signifies a level where major progress is yet to be achieved. Howarth pursues the following practices during the production of its windows and doors products:
This high profile campaign aims to make wood the leading solution wherever possible for construction and internal use. All members are committed to sustainable forest management, and to provide information, education, trade marketing and other initiatives.