Work Plan on Legality

Developing Minimum Standards of Legality,
Timber Tracking and Chain of Custody Systems,
Verification Systems Among Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) Partners

A Way Forward: Next Steps and Cooperation

There is no perfect system in operation to verify the legality of timber harvesting and to trace the material to the market. Empirical analysis of the government regulations and voluntary schemes applied to the matrix in this study identified the key elements required in a system, as a practical means to assure legal origin of the timber, compliance with forestry operations and timber traceability. Having common standards to evaluate the legal requirements in different countries and different schemes would facilitate assuring that any logging is legal.
The next challenge is for the AFP to decide upon concrete actions to harmonize existing initiatives to combat illegal logging in the region. To this end, some steps are necessary; each AFP Partner may:

• Conduct a self-review of its own regulations and/or voluntary schemes in light of the key elements for legality identified in this report;
• Examine to what extent the AFP Partners could adapt the key elements of legal compliance to their current regulations or voluntary schemes
• Identify which elements can be followed;
• Identify any gaps in the practical application;
• Strengthen cooperation on the development of a legality standard by promoting exchange of information and sharing of experiences among the AFP Partners.

Suggestions for implementation:

• Prioritize the key elements;
• Determine regionally acceptable principles and criteria: harmonized definitions, interaction and synergies;
• Adopt a phased-approach;
• Implement a newly-agreed system regionally.

In short, the combination of verification of legality of timber origin and traceability of the material depend upon smooth interplay between government regulations and voluntary schemes. The AFP objective is to help AFP Partners to refine their forest policies and to reform their legal frameworks. This then improves the compliance with forest law and related legislation and ensures that timber comes from legal sources. By ascertaining the common elements needed to evaluate the legal requirements in different countries, the AFP can assist the producer and consumer countries to develop a cooperative and effective working relation.

REFERENCES

1. http://www.asiaforests.org

2. http://www.asiaforests.org/files/_ref/about/key_document/itto_eng.htm

3. Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of Indonesia and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Cooperation to Improve Forest law Enforcement and Governance to Combat Illegal Logging and the International Trade in Illegally Logged Timber and Wood Products, 18 April 2002.

4. Principles, Criteria and Indicators of Legality for Forestry Operations and Timber Processing in Indonesia, Draft Number 1.0 as of 26 May 2004, prepared by the TNC.

5. Brack, D., Illegal Logging and the Illegal Trade in Forest and Timber Products. International Forestry Review 5 (3), 2003.

6. Heydir, L. at al., Defining Legality of Timber Origin and Compliance, Multi-Stakeholders Consultation in Districts of Pelalawan and Berau and Provinces of Riau and East Kalimantan, Indonesia, Paper submitted to the MoU Team of the Indonesian Forestry Department and the UK’s Departments for International Development, Jakarta, July 2003.

7. Mitchel, A., Elliot, J. and La Rochefordière, A., Independent Verification of legal Timber: Complementing Certification and Encouraging Positive Governance?, International Forestry Review 5 (3), 2003.

8. Nussbaum, R., Gray, I., and Higman, S., Modular Implementation and Verification (MIV): A Toolkit for the Phased Application of Forest Management Standards and Certification. ProForest, Oxford, November 2003.

9. Poynton, S. c.2003. Good Wood, Good Business: A practical, industry-oriented guide to excluding illegal & other unwanted wood from your supply chain. Annex I: 'What is Good Wood?'.Tropical Forest Trust

10. Speechly, H., Illegal Logging in Asia-Harmonization of Initiatives, Paper Presented at the Regional Workshop on Strengthening the Asia Forest Partnership, 30 August - 1September 2004, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

11. White, G. and Sarshar, D., Responsible Purchasing of Forest Products, WWF-Global Forest & Trade Network, February 2004.

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