Chatham House Illegal Logging Update25 January 2007

Public Procurement Policies for Wood Products

and

Harmonisation Process Between NL, UK and DK

Janneke de Jong Neil Judd

Green public procurement NL

Other countries like UK and DK have already developed GPP-criteria for timber.

2004 Cabinet decision in the Netherlands on GPP of timber: preferably sustainable and at least legal

2005 BRL accepted by 26 stakeholders

2006 ......NGO’s stept out of BRL proces....

2006 Decision to use UK-criteria for legality and accept the 5 certification systems + Cat. B as proof of legality

2007 Awaiting advise Equivalence assessment board on on which certification systems are equivalent to the BRL

Green Procurement in DK - milestones since mid 1990s

Until 2005:

50 procurement guidelines and many supporting facilities developed,

Parliament decision on Tropical Timber (2001)

Guidelines & Information campaign on Tropical Timber (2003-2004)

Evaluation of guidelines on Tropical Timber (2005)

2006:

9-point-plan on legal and sustainable timber (all timber);

temporary guidance on legal timber (all timber);

review of criteria (exploring scope for more harmonised approaches)

2007 (planned activities):

public consultation on reviewed criteria;

assessment of evidence;

new and more product specific guidance (“meeting users where there needs are..”)

Harmonisation UK, DK and NL

• Call for harmonisation from industry

• Different meetings on GPP in Copenhagen, Berlin, London...

• March 2006 first harmonisation meeting in Amsterdam

• September 2006 second harmonisation meeting in Copenhagen

• Aim is to identify common grounds for timber public procurement policies.

• Not an easy process keeping in mind the individual development processes and achieved compromises in each country.

Policy background

DK NL UK

Objective of policyTo promote

SFMTo promote

SFMTo promote

SFM

Relevant Procurement Policy

All public institutions should buy legal and sustainable timber – and shall pursue environmental goals

Central government shall buy legal and sustainable timber where possible

Central government shall seek to buy legal and sustainable timber

Wood and paper to public buyers

Wood and paper used by contractors Under review

Power or energy for public buyers Under review Unclear Under review

Requirements for forest management: legality (in broad outline)

DK NL UKEU-

FLEGT Briefing note 09

Legal harvest rights

Compliance with national and local laws on:

Forest management

Environment

Labour, Tenure rights etc.

Payment of all relevant royalties and taxes

Compliance with CITES

Requirements for forest management: sustainability (in broad outline)

DK NL UK

1. Legal, policy and institutional framework

2. Extent of forest resources ()

3. Forest health and vitality

4. Production functions of forest resources

5. Protection functions of forest resources

6. Biological diversity

7. Socio-economic functions Under review

Key elements of criteria for assessment of certification schemes (category A):

DK (under review) NL UK

Standard

setting

-ISO Guide 59-Open consultative process and consensus ‘as far as possible’

-ISO Guide 59-Balanced representation and decision making

Certification

-Accredited body-Consistency with applicable ISO Guides (62, 65, 66) or equivalent- Consultation with stakeholders- Information from certification reports publicly available

Accreditation- Consistency with ISO 17011 or equivalent

COC-Accredited body complying with ISO Guide 65 or equivalent-Recycled material of controlled origin

Labelling- Clear and non-misleading rules

UK Category A review results, 2006

Scheme Legal Sustainable

CSA Yes Yes

FSC Yes Only products & lines containing >70% certified or recycled raw

material.

MTCC Yes No

PEFC Yes Only products & lines containing >70% certified or recycled raw

material.

SFI Yes Only products & lines containing >70% certified or recycled raw

material.

Requirements for alternative means of assurance (Category B):

EU procurement regulations require adequate alternatives to certification to be accepted

DK has launched preliminary guidance for tropical timber (declarations from suppliers, sub-suppliers, authorities etc.)

UK guidance on different types of Category B evidence now available

Both ‘Category B schemes’ and one-off documentation

DK NL UK

Assessment by impartial party

Concluding remarks The UK

Finalised first review of Category A evidence (certification schemes)

Produced guidance on the use of Category B evidence

Helpline and ongoing training programme well-used

Starting a monitoring programme to support and assess implementation

More proactive work with local authorities

Concluding remarks The Netherlands

National Assessment Guidelines (BRL) finalised 12-11-2005

First meeting Equivalence Assessment board 10-11-2006

7 experts (economic, social/cultural, forest management, normalisation, ecological etc.)

Test run with 6 certification schemes from October-May

Approval BRL (publication in Gazette)

Formal assessments

Launch of Dutch procurement policy

Progress with harmonisation

Legality definitions more or less harmonised already DK, NL and UK FLEGT

Legality potential next steps: Common criteria to use with legality definition Process for assessment of evidence and decision-making

Sustainability potential next steps: Further discussions ongoing on how to move forward Options for harmonisation are being considered in DK review

process

Tak Thank you Dank u

www.sns.dk www.defra.gov.uk www.vrom.nl