Certification & Legality Verification Rachel Butler Independent Technical Advisor to the European Timber Trade Federation
European Timber Trade Federation Founded in 2009 after a merger of the established European organisations; hardwood, softwood, panels (mainly importers) Full merger with FEBO (Timber Merchants) 2013; Membership represents 10 key European importing countries; Netherlands, UK, Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway & Denmark FEBO adds Sweden, Finland, Austria, Luxembourg & Switzerland Eastern Europe Industry less organised
Due Diligence & Certification Legal Verification Certification Due Diligence ETTF Tools, publicly available & developed with independent expertise Due Diligence System Evaluation of schemes Market stats & research National TTFs intend to be MOs; Belgium (CTIB), Netherlands (Ind), Germany, France?, Italy?
Challenges & Current Awareness Understanding & misconceptions are high Not an import restriction! Not a proving legality regulation! Operator further away from the wood supply chain; less knowledge What is low and high risk. grey area & subjective! EUTR Compliant does not exist..beware of consultants! Documents do not match shipments All existing information currently available is only generic, not specific enough Many operators relying on certification & verification
Risk Evaluation Collect Info through Due Diligence System Exempt, FLEGT Credible Certification or Verification Adequate Supply Chain Controls/proc esses Low Risk (defined by Spp & Country of Harvest) Other 2 nd /3 rd Party Evidence High risk spp & country from unknown source with no supply chain controls Most Forest Products Fall into these Categories: Needs Justification!! NEGLIGIBLE RISK NON- NEGLIGIBLE RISK
Certification & Legality Verification Regulation clear - it is the choice of the operator to use certification/legality verification ETTF evaluation of the schemes on their behalf, still their choice to use the findings ETTF contracted ProForest to conduct a deskbased assessment of documents Focused on legality not on other EUTR requirements Legality Verification Limited coverage & several schemes No Accreditation
Methodology Assessed 10 schemes certification and legality verification & assessed their schemes not their due diligence systems Development of criteria & scoring method using the EUTR, Implementing Regulation and the Draft Guidance Policy level stakeholder consultation Scoring system was used, Compliant, Partial Compliance and Non-compliant
Certification or other third party verified schemes Schemes may be taken into account in the risk assessment and risk mitigation procedures where they meet the following criteria: Use a publicly available system of requirements. Specify that appropriate checks to ensure harvest in compliance with applicable legislation, including field-visits. Include means to trace timber through supply chain back to forest source. Include controls to ensure that timber or timber products of unknown origin are excluded.
Certification and Legality verification Wood Tracking Programme by GFS Verified Legal Origin and Verified Legal Compliance by Rainforest Alliance Origine et Légalité du Bois (origin and legality of wood) by Bureau Veritas Legal Harvest Verification by Scientific Certification Systems Legality Assurance System by Certisource LegalSource by NEPCon Forest Verification of Legal Compliance by Soil Association Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) (incl. CSA and SFI +28 national schemes) Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
Results of assessment Wood Tracking Programme by GFS Verified Legal Origin and Verified Legal Compliance by Rainforest Alliance Origine et Légalité du Bois (origin and legality of wood) by Bureau Veritas Legal Harvest Verification by Scientific Certification Systems Legality Assurance System by Certisource LegalSource by NEPCon Forest Verification of Legal Compliance by Soil Association Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes (PEFC) (incl. CSA and SFI +28 national schemes) Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
FSC & PEFC ok apart from one criterion Relates to forest source Legally harvested in the context of the EU Timber Regulation Applicable legislation means the legislation in force in the country of harvest covering the following matters: rights to harvest timber within legally gazetted boundaries, payments for harvest rights and timber including duties related to timber harvesting, timber harvesting, including environmental and forest legislation including forest management and biodiversity conservation, where directly related to timber harvesting, third parties legal rights concerning use and tenure that are affected by timber harvesting, and trade and customs, in so far as the forest sector is concerned. -legislation at point of export from country of harvest
Findings - Legality Criteria 1. Legality criteria 1. 1 Forest standard on legal compliance 1.1.1 The standard requires that the forest owner/manager has rights to harvest timber within legally gazetted boundaries. 1.1.2 The standard requires payments for harvest rights and timber including duties related to timber harvesting. 1.1.3 The standard requires compliance with legal requirements directly related to timber harvesting concerning: Environment Forest management Biodiversity conservation 1.1.4 The standard requires compliance with third parties legal rights concerning use and tenure that are affected by timber harvesting. 1.1.5 The standard requires compliance with legal requirements related to trade and customs, in so far as the forest sector is concerned. BV OLB CLAS FSC GFS WTP PEFC RA VLO RA VLC SA FVLC SCS LHV C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C NC C P C NC C C C C C C C C C C C C C C NC C NC NC NC C C C C C LS
Findings Credibility and assurance Criteria 1.2 National application of legality criteria 1.2.1 International schemes or schemes, which operate in more than one country, must have a system in place to ensure that the legality requirements, set out in criteria 1.1.1 1.1.5 of the forest management standard, are defined at national level. 2. Scheme transparency 2.1 Certification/legality verification scheme must make its requirements publicly available. 3. Certification/ verification process 3.1 Certification/verification must be undertaken by a body which is accredited to evaluate against a forest management standard that covers the legality requirements set out in criteria 1.1.1 1.1.5 above. 3.2 Certification/verification must be undertaken by a body whose organisation, systems and procedures conform to ISO Guide 17065 or ISO/IEC 17021:2011, or publicly available equivalent. 3.3 Certification/ verification audits must include review of documentation and system, and assessment in the forest. 3.4 Certification/verification audits must be carried out at least once every 12 months. BV OLB CLAS FSC GFS WTP PEFC RA VLO RA VLC SA FVLC SCS LHV C C C P C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C P NC C NC C P P P P P C C C NC C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C LS
Findings - Traceability Criteria BV OLB CLAS FSC GFS WTP PEFC RA VLO RA VLC SA FVLC SCS LHV LS 4. Chain of Custody (CoC) 4.1 Assessment of Chain of Custody must be undertaken by a certification body which is accredited to evaluate CoC standard. 4.2 Assessment of Chain of Custody must be undertaken by a certification body operating in accordance with ISO Guide 17065 or ISO/IEC 17021:2011, or publicly available equivalent 4.3 There must be a Chain of Custody control along the supply chain, from the forest source to the final product. 4.4 If mixing of certified/verified and uncertified/unverified material in a product or product line is allowed, the uncertified/unverified material must be covered by a verifiable system which is designed to ensure that it complies with legality requirements set out in criteria 1.1.1 1.1.5 above. P NC C NC C P P P P P C C C NC C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C P C C P C C C C C C
Outcome Significantly important study: Gone Global! Review recommended
Summary Certification and legality verification can be used as evidence of due diligence; operators choice to use it, most will! ProForest Reports highlights the gaps and further guidance from ETTF will outline how to fill those gaps Further issues with certification/verification Caution 1: Lack of info on species and source country Caution 2: Fraudulent certificates Other documentation mostly not appropriate
THANK YOU rachel.butler@rba-solutions.com or raichbutler@gmail.com or sofie@proforest.net