Module 4
Procuring sustainable timber
Training on procurement for SMEs
Alba Julia, 1st November, 2012
Objectives
 STA guidelines on legal and sustainable timber supply
 How to cope with a public tender procedure for sustainable
timber
 The verification requirements and commitment communication
 this following model has been designed for the procurement
of timber and timber products, NOT for PAPER
 these criteria are recommendations that can be easily
adapted to the procurement model of the contracting authority
The standard sustainable timber
supply model
Meeting public demand for legal, sustainable
and/or recycled timber
Tender sections
Subject matter – this is the “title” of the contract, and describes what is
being procured. It may well include a reference to sustainability
Technical specifications - These provide a detailed description of precisely
what the public authority wishes to purchase. It indicates the minimum
standard which the bidder must meet.
Award/evaluation stage – At this stage, all the offers which meet the
minimum standard outlined in the technical specification are compared.
Some authorities compare on price alone.
Contract clauses – These provide the rules which the supplier must follow
once they have been awarded the contract. A sample contract should be
supplied with the original Invitation to Tender.
Legal timber
Legality is a first criteria for timber public procurement.
The trend in public procurement policy is to ask preference for
sustainable timber and exclude those suppliers that cannot
provide evidence of legality within the timber supply chain.
The European Union is tackling this issue through the Forest
Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan
(FLEGT) and the main mechanisms are:
- Voluntary Partner Agreements (VPAs) and the
- European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR).
Legal timber – the EUTR
From March 2013 the EUTR will prohibit placing timber on the EU
market if it was illegally harvested.
Anyone placing timber or timber products onto the EU market for the first time
must implement a Due Diligence System (DDS) to mitigate the risk that the
timber was illegally harvested, providing:
 Information on the product and supplier, the country where the timber was harvested
and information on compliance with applicable forestry legislation in the country of
harvest must be available.
 Risk assessment procedure: Each operator is required to have a risk assessment
procedure which takes into account the information collected and relevant risk criteria.
 Risk mitigation procedures: Where the risk assessment indicates that there is
some risk of a product containing illegally harvested timber, risk mitigation procedures
must be put in place.
For more information : http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/timber_regulation.htm
Sustainable sources
Requirement
Technical specifications
The [timber product] shall comply with the following conditions:
At least 70% of the raw material of the [timber product] must come from
sustainably managed sources, in line with the principles defined by FOREST
EUROPE (MCPFE):
1.Management of the forest must ensure the:
2.Maintenance and appropriate enhancement of forest resources and their contribution to
global carbon cycles;
3.Maintenance of forest ecosystem health and vitality;
4.Maintenance, conservation and appropriate enhancement of biological diversity in forest
ecosystems;
5.Maintenance and appropriate enhancement of protective functions in forest management
(notably soil and water);
6.Maintenance and encouragement of productive functions of forests (wood and non wood)
Timber for sustainable management
Verificator
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must be able to provide either:
• An invoice containing a valid FSC or PEFC CoC number linked to
the product in question specifying the percentage of certified
material*
• Any equivalent means of proof**
Recycled sources
Requirement
Technical specifications
The [timber product] shall comply with the following conditions:
The product is made from at least 85% of post- or preconsumer(c) recycled material. The remaining material must
come from legal sources.
Post- or pre-consumer recycled material
Verification
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must be able to provide:
• credible documentation which specifies the percentage of
recycled content.
• An invoice containing a valid FSC or PEFC CoC number linked to
the product in question, with a declaration specifying the
percentage of recycled content***
• any other equivalent means of proof
Award criteria
Requirement
Up to 20 points* will be awarded to [timber product(s)] where more than
70% of the raw material comes from sustainably managed sources. 20
points will be awarded to products containing 100%. 0 points will be
awarded to products containing 70%.
Points will be awarded on a sliding scale in between.
* number of points allocated to this award criterion will depend on the typical
procurement model of the contracting authority, and the importance which they wish
to give to it.
Verification
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must be able to provide either:
• An invoice containing a valid FSC or PEFC CoC number linked to
the product in question specifying the percentage of certified
material, or.
• Any equivalent means of proof.
Between legality and sustainability
• Controlled wood
Timber and other derived wood products that exclude the following categories:
1. Illegally harvested wood
2. Wood harvested in violation of traditional and civil rights
3. Wood harvested in forests in which High Conservation Values (areas
particularly worth of protection) are threatened through management
activities
4. Wood harvested from conversion of natural forests
5. Wood harvested from areas where genetically modified trees are planted
Verification
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must be able to provide an invoice containing
a valid FSC CoC number for Controlled Wood linked to the product in question
Between legality and sustainability
• Non controversial wood
Timber and other derived wood products that comply with local, national, or
international legislation, in particular relating to the following areas:
1. forestry operations and harvesting, including conversion of forest to other
uses;
2. management of areas with high environmental and cultural values
designed and covered by the legislation;
3. protected and endangered species, including requirements of CITES;
4. health and labour issues relating to forest workers;
5. property, tenure and use rights of indigenous peoples;
6. payment of taxes and royalties; and
7. areas utilizing genetically modified organisms.
Verification
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must be able to provide an invoice containing a
valid PEFC CoC for non controversial sources linked to the product in question.
How to check an invoice containing a
valid FSC or PEFC CoC number linked
to the product in question.
A sample
invoice
including FSC
certified
products
[idem for PEFC]
Optional
FSC international free database
Company name
FSC certification code
Eg. AAA – COC – 11111
Products
FSC license code
Eg. FSC-C00xxxx
Timber species
Country
http://info.fsc.org
Certificate status: valid, suspended, withdrawn…
PEFC international free
database
www.pefcregs.info
Country
Company name
PEFC certification number
Certificate status: recognised, not recognised…
Going further... Fair Trade
SMEs and communities in the South face extreme difficulties in
competing with large forest companies. Thus a more fair and ethical
trade would allow SMEs and community products to enter the global
market. Fair Trade coupled with sustainable forest sources might be a
way of recognising and supporting SMEs and community sourced timber.
Examples of initiatives that combine sustainable forest management and fair
trade certification are:
•
•
•
•
COPADE
FORCERT
FAIRTRADE
KAHRS
Going further...
Requirement
•
Award criteria about fair trade
20 points* will be awarded to [timber product(s)] produced
according to the parameters of the European Parliament
Resolution on Fair Trade and Development (2005/2245(INI)).
* number of points allocated to this award criterion will depend on the
typical procurement model of the contracting authority, and the importance
which they wish to give to it.
Verification
criteria (the text) for fair trade
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must provide either:
• Products carrying a Fairtrade label (Fairtrade Labelling
Organizations International)
• Products imported and distributed by Fair Trade
Organizations (recognised by World Fair Trade Organization)
• Any equivalent means of proof
Going further...
Coping with other policy goals
Some companies might be preferred by local authorities when delivering
their timber products together with awareness raising activities related to
sustainability issues and fairness in the forestry and timber sector.
These activities may target staff of the administration, local businesses or
the local community (or all three).
‘Purchase of [product] made of sustainable and/or recycled timber, together
with accompanying awareness raising activities’
Requirement
Up to 10 points will be awarded to suppliers offering
awareness raising activities targeting <include target
group> on the topic of sustainable timber/fair trade. Points
will be awarded on the basis of likely effectiveness of the
activities proposed
Verification
The contractor [supplier, bidder] must provide a short
and structured description of the type of activities
planned for the duration of the contract (max 4 pages)
Supporting other policy goals
1.
Raising awareness of sustainable timber through procurement
Examples
Responsible timber in construction/building works
Timber is not typically purchased by the authorities
themselves but rather by the construction companies
To request that the timber used meets the standards
outlined in the guide, and require the contractor to
present proof.
London 2012
Olympic Park
and Velodrome
E.g. 60-70% of the timber provided by members of the
UK Timber Trade Federation -> www.ttf.co.uk
Going further...
Additional social targets
More often public authorities may ask for proof of compliance
with international labour standard or even better social
standards.
Going further...
Locally sourced timber
In order to reduce carbon emissions and to meet climate
change policy targets some public authorities may prefer
suppliers which are able to demonstrate that the timber or part
of the supplied products comes regional timber businesses.
Going further...
Community sourced timber
A contracting authority might want to contribute to community
forest development by asking for products originating from
forest managed by community groups which can assure
both social and environmental standards.
Example:
• FSC 100% from Community or SLIMF sources (north and
south);
• Opportunity for FTOs that seek to trade FSC products
that comes from small or community forests
• Available from 2012
 STA guide for forest communities
Example