CIAO DATE: 07/2008
June 2008
The use of public procurement policy by consumer states to create protected markets for legal and sustainable timber is helping to exclude the products of illegal logging, thereby encouraging the legal and sustainable production of timber.
Many countries already possess some form of green procurement policy into which criteria for legal and sustainable timber can easily be fitted. In general no new legislation is needed, so this offers a relatively rapid route to tackling imports of illegal timber.
Nine countries currently possess some form of timber procurement policy at central government level. Although they are all very recent in implementation, the evidence already suggests that they are having a positive effect on increasing market share for verified legal and sustainable timber.
However, the adoption of different criteria and coverage of products risks making it more difficult for exporters to provide supplies of timber; some degree of technical harmonization would be desirable, and seems likely.
The inclusion of requirements for legal and sustainable timber in building standards provides another route for promoting these products. At present, however, the points-based systems that these standards are based on usually encourage, rather than require, sustainable timber.
Resource link: Controlling Illegal Logging: Using Public Procurement Policy [PDF] - 191K